


Seldom All It Seems

by starlightwalking



Series: Fairytale AUs [1]
Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, F/F, Female Smaug, Lesbian Kiliel, Sleeping Beauty AU, The Hobbit Big Bang 2017, fem!Kili
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-15
Updated: 2017-06-30
Packaged: 2018-11-14 05:47:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 28,531
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11201712
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starlightwalking/pseuds/starlightwalking
Summary: Tucked away in a forest hideout and unbeknownst of her true identity, Princess Kíli of Erebor dreams of a beautiful red-haired girl whom she is certain she is in love with. Her three aunts assure her that she is a normal girl, but everything she's ever learned is called into question when the girl from her dreams appears in real life and turns her world upside down. There's no way she's truly a cursed princess...right?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first Hobbit Big Bang story and I'm excited to share it with you! Thank you to shipsicle for art, and to peaches for putting this together!!  
> I will update periodically, and all 5 chapters will be posted by the end of the month :)

There once was a kingdom in a mountain known as Erebor, and in that kingdom dwelt the King Under the Mountain and his people. King Thorin II, known also as the Oaken King for his wooden leg, reigned under his mountain for many years, but although he took a husband, one Bilbo Baggins of a far green country, he had no children.

King Thorin had two siblings: a brother, Frerin, killed in battle long ago; and a sister, Dís. Lady Dís took a husband of her own, and soon afterward delivered a son. Young Prince Fíli was a blessing to the kingdom of Erebor, and his birth was celebrated throughout the mountain's halls. The king named him Heir, and Fíli was raised to be princely and strong.

Then Lady Dís delivered a second child. This was a little girl, and she was named Kíli. The kingdom rejoiced, and on the day of her presentation, people from far lands were summoned to celebrate the princess's birth.

It was then that King Thorin decided to ally himself with another king, Thranduil of Greenwood. In ages past there had been conflict between their neighboring realms, but Thorin wished for peace and an end to petty grudges.

As they dined together as kings in an effort to reconcile, Thorin posed a question to Thranduil: "Have you children?"

Lady Dís and her husband Víli sat with them, as did King Consort Bilbo and Thranduil's own wife, Queen Calien.

Thranduil smiled to his wife and remembered the little ones that he had left behind in Greenwood. "Yes," he agreed, "a girl and a boy. The boy is the elder, and I will raise him to be a king after I am gone. The girl is a light in my life and she will find no greater joy in any other kingdom, for I will give her all she needs to be happy."

Thorin's heart softened, and he saw his sister Dís smiling. "Have you arranged betrothals for either of your children?" he asked.

Dís's smile faded. "Thorin," she murmured, "perhaps we could..."

"They are only children," Queen Calien said in surprise. "Prince Legolas is six; Princess Tauriel is only two."

"There is precedent, to ensure alliances," Thorin rumbled, tapping his wooden leg on the ground. He had lost his original leg in a great battle, and had fashioned himself a wood of oak in its place, but he sometimes still felt phantom pain from his missing limb. "I wish to join our lines in peace, your Majesty."

"As do I, your Majesty," Thranduil agreed. He took Calien's hand. "What is it that you propose?"

"I suggest for Princess Kíli to marry Prince Legolas when they are both of age, thus binding the fates of our kingdoms together," Thorin rumbled. "There shall be an alliance between Erebor and Greenwood, and our heirs shall be happy together."

"Thorin," Dís said stiffly, "I do wish you had discussed this with me before bartering my daughter away to a foreign man."

Thorin grimaced. "I apologize for my sister," he said to Thranduil. Turning to Dís, he murmured, "This is necessary, beloved sister."

"And what of Fíli?" asked Víli, the child's father. "Is he to marry Princess Tauriel?"

"There is no need of that," Calien said, shaking her head. She, too, was troubled. "My king..." She squeezed Thranduil's hand. "What do you say?"

For several long moments, Thranduil contemplated Thorin's offer. Bilbo glanced around the room, noting the tension. He was no prince, but a countryman far from his home. He lived in Erebor for love, but there came days now and then that he felt out of place in this high-and-mighty political world. Today was one such day: in his home, no one would offer a newborn's hand in marriage to fulfill an alliance.

"I accept," Thranduil said slowly.

Thorin smiled, and the two kings drew up a contract to make the decision official. Thus was Princess Kíli betrothed to Prince Legolas, though the witnesses, numbering Calien, Dís, Víli, Bilbo, and later the priest Balin, were not all at ease with this union.

Two days later, Kíli was officially presented to the kingdom and to the gods. This ceremony was ancient and practiced throughout Erebor upon a child's birth, but a princess's presentation was grander and more public than most.

"In the name of Mahal, maker of our people, we consecrate this child as our own: Princess Kíli, daughter of Lady Dís and Lord Víli, second heir of King Thorin II of Erebor," intoned Priest Balin. "Let her be blessed!"

"Let her be blessed!" echoed the watching crowd.

"I, King Thorin II, do bless this child with growth and nurture in my kingdom as a princess and my niece," Thorin proclaimed solemnly.

Beside him, Dís stepped forward, the child in her arms. "I, Lady Dís, do bless this child with the love of a mother."

"I, Lord Víli, do bless this child with the love of a father," Víli said. He stood hand in hand with three-year-old Prince Fíli, and added, "And on behalf of Prince Fíli, I bless her with the love of a brother."

"I, King Consort Bilbo, do bless this child with guidance and care as befits a member of the royal family." Bilbo smiled at the baby, who was half-asleep and rubbing her eyes.

After this, it was the turn of the notable guests to bless the child. Gifts were given, compliments exchanged, hearts won by a smiling baby. Princess Kíli was showered in gold and gems, gifts taken by her parents and stored in the royal treasury until such time that Kíli would be old enough to use them.

Thranduil had a more interesting gift than simply riches: "I, King Thranduil of Greenwood, bless this child with the hand of my son Prince Legolas in marriage, when they are both of age."

This pronouncement was met with glad surprise by the people of Erebor. Excited murmurs swept through the crowd. This was a sign of future peace and trade between Greenwood and Erebor, for Thorin and Thranduil to agree upon marriage between their lines!

When the guests had exhausted the depths of their charity, there were yet three gifts left to be bestowed. These were not promises of love or gifts of gold and silver, but gifts of grace and charm from three lovely fairies.

These fairies were guardians of the royal line: they blessed the royal family and protected them in times of both peace and war. They were sisters, by the names of Dori, Nori, and Ori. Fairies were small creatures of human shape, but perhaps only a few feet tall, and possessing great magical power. These three were as different as could be, but they loved each other and the kingdom of Erebor.

First came Dori, the eldest sister, in a dress of blue and white like a winter sky. Her hair was white and done up in a bun, her eyes were sharp green.

"I, Fae Dori, do bless this child with the gift of perception," she announced. With a flick of her wand, blue sparks dusted the baby, whose eyes fluttered open in surprise. "She will see all as it is, and use her foresight to better the futures of her and her people."

Next was Nori, the middle sister, clad in red and brown like an autumn tree. She was proudest of her sisters and of a sly disposition, but she was faithful and true from her auburn hair to her tiny feet.

"I, Fae Nori, bless this child with the gift of charm," she proclaimed. "She will be beloved of all and win the hearts of even the strangest folk." Red sparks showered down from her wand, and the baby giggled and reached for them. The gift of charm must have already taken effect, for all watching found their hearts warmed by the sweet sight.

And lastly came Ori, the youngest fairy. She was clothed in green and yellow, like a summer wind. She had a sweet disposition, and a nature of thoughtfulness, and her gifts were most prized of all.

She raised her wand and took a breath, before saying, "I, Fae Ori, bless—"

A fearsome wind swept through the great hall. Candles blew out; the place was shrouded in darkness in an instant. Screams echoed across the room. Lady Dís clutched her baby to her chest, terrified, and Kíli, surprised, began to wail.

Upon the royal dais appeared a woman clad in fire, glowing and changing color faster than the eye could comprehend. She was tall and fair and beautiful, but her yellow eyes glinted with treachery and evildoings.

"Forgive me for my tardiness, King Thorin," she drawled, "but in my defense, my invitation to this blessed occasion must have been lost on the way to my home."

Thorin fell back; his face was ashen. "Smaug!" he gasped.

Smaug laughed in his terror. She was a wicked enchantress, a witch of the North. She had once been a guardian of the royal line like unto the fairy sisters, but she had turned to evil and corrupted the hearts of the kings. In his youth, Thorin had driven her from Erebor and cleansed the kingdom, using gifts he had received from her: strength of arm and of will.

His siblings, Dís and Frerin, had aided him. Frerin had been killed in the confrontation, but Dís had had used her gift of sorcery to bring her to heel whilst Thorin struck the final blow. All three had paid for their victory: Frerin with his life, Thorin with his left leg, and Dís with her magic. She had never cast another spell afterward, having exhausted her powers in bringing Smaug down. Defeated, the evil enchantress had fled to the North—but now she had returned to Erebor for her revenge.

"Look at you now, cowering before me!" Smaug crowed. "How far you have fallen without my guidance. I missed this family and your ceremonies—your weddings, poor Frerin's burial, the birth of little Fíli." She waved to the terrified young prince, who clutched his mother's skirts. "But I'm glad I made it to Kíli's blessing."

"Leave this kingdom! You are not welcome here!" cried Víli. He had been but a young knight when his wife and her brothers had driven Smaug away, and he remembered those dark times with fear. He had no wish for them to return, or for the enchantress to harm his child.

"The child is not yours, and she never will be!" Bilbo added fiercely. He had not lived in Erebor at the same time as Smaug, but he had heard of her evils from his husband.

Smaug grinned. "That is where you are wrong, Bilbo Baggins." She raised her arms and cried out an incantation. Kíli floated out of Dís's arms, and her parents cried out in horror. But Dís was without her sorcery, Víli and Bilbo ungifted, and Thorin too shocked to do anything. There was nothing to be done; even the fairies were frozen, caught up in Smaug's spell.

"Now that I have returned to Erebor, I will fulfill my duties as guardian," Smaug announced. "For this is a blessing ceremony, is it not?"

"Not for you!" Dís protested, but she could do nothing, and Smaug ignored her.

"I, Smaug the Enchantress, bless this child with the gift of a high fate," she said, sweeping her hand over the child.

Dís gripped her husband's hand, her knuckles white. Víli held onto Fíli with his other hand and bit his lip, staring at his daughter with concern, not daring to relax.

"She will grow in grace and beauty, seeing the truth and charming the hearts of all," Smaug continued, waving her hand at Dori and Nori in acknowledgement of their gifts. She bowed to Thorin, then handed the baby back to her mother and turned away.

Dís cried out, clutching Kíli to her chest. Thorin took a shallow breath, allowing himself to hope that was all. If it was, perhaps they had nothing to fear—a high fate was nothing horrible.

" _But_ ," Smaug added, glancing backward, "that is not all."

"Oh, no," Bilbo whispered.

"Before the sun sets on her sixteenth birthday, she shall prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel," Smaug cried, "and  _die!_ "

Thunder crashed, shaking the hall. The watching crowd screamed in horror, and Dís sobbed. The royal family stared in dismay at Smaug.

"How could you?" Víli shouted.

"Kill that abomination!" Thorin ordered, regaining his senses, but it was too late. Laughing, Smaug vanished in a cloud of smoke, leaving the poison of her spell and her words dripping in the minds of all who remained.

There was an ominous, empty silence, broken only by baby Kíli's wails. Then little Fíli whispered, "Is Kíli going to die?"

"No," said a small voice. Little Ori, the youngest fairy, flew to the child in Dís's arms. "My gift has not yet been given."

"Can you save her from this high fate?" Víli begged. "Please?"

"Smaug's spell is too powerful to undo fully," Dori said. "Ori..."

"But I can undo some of it," Ori said firmly.

"Ori, you are young," Nori began, "if you can't—"

"I can!" Ori insisted. She took a deep breath, then lifted her wand over the crying child. "Princess Kíli, if by this awful spell you chance to prick your finger on a spindle, let your heart remain hopeful. I, Fae Ori, bless this child with a final gift: you shall not fall into death, but into sleep eternal, until at one day true love shall wake you from your slumber and break the spell."

Green sparks rained down upon Kíli, and she slowly stopped her tears. She fell into a light slumber, not one eternal, but one of a comforted child.

Ori sighed and floated back down to sit with her sisters. "I did my best," she said. "There is nothing more that I can do."

"Thank you, Fae Ori," murmured Dís. She looked faint. "I know you did all you could."

Priest Balin, who had run off the royal dais as soon as Smaug appeared, hastened back on it to close the ceremony. In a tremulous voice, he intoned, "And I, Priest Balin, bless this child in the name of all the gods. May...may she grow in peace and love."

* * *

After the disastrous ceremony, the royal family and the fairies gathered together in bleak despair. Fíli had been sent to bed with a nursemaid, but Kíli's mother could not be comforted by sleep.

"My poor baby," Dís whispered. "Doomed to die before her seventeenth year..." The child dozed in a cradle by the fire. Dís's arms itched to hold her, but she needed her rest.

"No," Ori protested. "Only to sleep, until her love brings her to wakefulness."

"And is that not death?" snapped Víli. "Love, yes, that exists, but  _true_ love... She is arranged to marry the Prince Legolas,  _if_  she survives. Arranged marriage seldom bring  _true_  love, and I do not wish her to be unfaithful!"

"Is not the love of a mother, a father, a brother as true as the love of a spouse?" inquired Nori. They all looked at her. Nori shrugged. "Love can come from many people. You all should look to the hope Ori has given you."

"Do not despair," Dori agreed.

"Smaug is clever," Thorin said moodily. "I have sent word about the kingdom that all spinning wheels are to be destroyed, and no more to be made, but that may not stop the enchantress."

"Send her away." That came from Bilbo, surprising even himself.

"What?" Dís demanded. "Send my baby away?"

"Yes," Bilbo agreed, his resolve growing stronger. "Hide her, somewhere Smaug would never think to look for her. Another country, a cave in the wild,  _anywhere_. But not the palace!"

"He is right," Dori said, nodding sharply. "She must be hidden, and not with magic."

"I wish that Smaug had not taken my sorcery!" Dís cried. "I am powerless against her, and now she threatens my child!"

"Magic has done what it could, Lady Dís," Nori informed her. "Now it's time for practicality to finish the job." She and her sisters exchanged a knowing look, something all fae find themselves doing when dealing with foolish mortals, then they raised their wands and cast a spell upon themselves.

Soon, the three fairies had vanished, and in their stead stood three unremarkable peasant women. Only the colors they wore and the glint in their eyes betrayed their true form.

" _We_  will hide her, in a place even you will never find," Ori proclaimed. "Until her sixteenth birthday passes and the danger with it, and then she can be returned to you."

"Sound it about that she has been hidden, and lay clues as to where, but let them contradict each other," Nori suggested. "That will confuse the trail."

"She will be safe in our arms," Dori promised. "After all, we are the guardians of the royal line."

Dís and Víli wept long and bitterly to be parted from their daughter, and the hearts of Thorin and Bilbo were much grieved. Little Fíli, who barely understood what a baby was, had only confusion when his sister disappeared.

On the day she left, Dís gave Kíli a token: an enchanted stone engraved with ancient and powerful runes.

"I thought you had no power left," Nori said, suspicious.

"I have none," Dís replied, "but I gave this token to Thorin before our great battle with Smaug. It is why he survived and Frerin did not; upon it lies a spell of protection that still lasts. It will protect my daughter now."

"And the runes?" asked Ori.

" _Inik Dê,_ " Dís said softly. " _Return to me_. That I can still engrave without magic left to me. I have to believe she will return."

Ori took the stone reverently and tucked into the child's blanket. "She will," she promised. "We will make sure of it."

* * *

Kíli was raised under a different name: Briar Rose, like the thorns and flowers surrounding her hidden forest home. She had three aunts who loved her, and for years, they were all she knew. The forest was her mother, the sky her sister. She was unaware of laws and curses and what a spinning wheel was.

Her aunts were three fussy sisters, forever bickering and complaining about one another, but Briar knew that they loved each other dearly. They loved her, too, and reared her in secret. Dori, Nori, and Ori were superstitious and spiritual, honoring the forest around them and speaking of wondrous things in lands beyond, though they never quite explained what they were.

Briar never thought her aunts strange, for they were all she knew. Ori's scatterbrained personality was balanced by Dori's wisdom, Dori's sternness by Nori's fun, and Nori's temper by Ori's sweetness. But even they could not do everything, so they gave Briar a small stone engraved with runes she could not understand and promised it would protect her when they could not.

She had friends in the forest, small animals who allowed her to feed them and pet them. As a child, she was clumsy, but the larger animals, foxes and deer, taught her how to walk while her aunts were occupied with other things. It wasn't until she began to speak in growls that they realized perhaps there was more to raising a child than simply feeding and changing her, and they taught her speech and proper manners. Once she was fluent in language, Briar dazzled her guardians and could charm them into giving her practically anything.

Briar never knew how much she yearned for human company of someone not related to her until she first began to have the dreams. She saw a girl, tall and pretty, with hair as red as her Aunt Nori's or redder, and eyes as green as her Aunt Ori's favorite earrings. Briar thought she could compare the girl to fire or the leaves of the trees, but she preferred to think of her in terms of the things and people she held most dear.

Briar first dreamed of her when she was eleven, and nearly every night afterward, the girl walked in her mind as she slept. The dreams were different each time, but the girl was always there.

The girl seemed to grow as she did, always a year or two older. When Briar was thirteen, the dream-girl was fifteen, and Briar first realized that she was in love. She had learned of romance from her aunts, who often told her stories of other lands and other people and other times. Briar knew she would never meet her mysterious girl, but she still found she could love her.

She yearned to go the places her aunts spoke of, but they insisted she remain in the forest. "Some day," they promised, "you will go places. You have a high fate, sweet Briar." But they never told her when or how, or what "high fate" meant. Briar could usually see through lies and pretenses, but her aunts knew her so well that they could hide such things from her.

It wasn't as if Briar had never met another human being other than her aunts. She ran across hunters in the forest, though she rarely liked them, and occasionally villagers from miles away. She often tried to sneak away and find the villages, but her aunts always seemed to catch her before she got far. They were the ones who went to the village to get supplies, not Briar. Never Briar.

This frustrated her, but she knew her aunts loved her. They wanted the best for her, but sometimes Briar thought that their definition of "best" was different from hers. She was tired of waiting for "someday" and "someplace" and whatever "high fate" was in store for her. She wanted adventure, or failing that, just something new.

One day, not long before her sixteenth birthday, she heard the sounds of a horse in the forest as she walked. Her heart beat faster in excitement: a horse! That meant a hunter, and she loved to play tricks on hunters. The forest animals were her friends, and she did all she could to drive hunters out of her patch of the wood. Besides, Briar and her aunts never ate meat, and she didn't understand why other people did.

She crept closer and closer to the noise of hoofs and whinnies, her feet cat-quiet. She heard people talking: two people, a man and a woman, most likely. They were young, perhaps only a few years older than Briar herself. But whatever else they were, she knew they were hunters. It was her duty and her pleasure to scare them away.

She couldn't see them very well from her position crouched among the bushes, but she could hear them fine.

"I think we're lost, Tauriel," the young man said. He sounded nervous. Briar grinned. Well, good. He ought to be. "We should try to go back to the village."

"Nonsense!" the young woman, Tauriel, exclaimed. "We've only just gotten here."

"We can come back some other day, with local guides," the young man said. "It's not our forest, anyway. We'll be around for months, Father says."

Months? Briar scowled. That wouldn't do.

"I just want to explore, Legolas," Tauriel said.

Were they hunting or not? Briar wasn't sure, but she wasn't about to take any chances. She slunk through the bushes and climbed up a tree, ready to strike.

She could see flashes of color on the ground from between the leaves: blond hair, bright clothes, the brown of their horses, and—

Shocked to see the beautiful red hair of the girl in her dreams, Briar gasped and fell right out of the tree and onto the ground.

Whatever else, it did have the desired effect of terrifying the two riders. The horses screamed and raced away, one with the blond man still aboard. The second horse bucked its rider off, tossing the red-haired girl to the ground.

Briar hit the ground with a thud, the air flying out of her. Her head spun, and she wheezed and coughed, trying to breathe. The other girl seemed to be in a similar condition, but after a few moments, she unsteadily got to her feet and walked over to Briar.

"Are you alright?" the girl, Tauriel, asked, stretching out a hand to help her to her feet. "What were you doing in that tree?"

Briar stared up into her face, one that she knew so well. She knew those bright green eyes, that red, red hair, the concerned look in her eyes; she knew what her hands would feel like grasping Briar's own. This was the girl who had walked in her dreams for all these years, the girl that she knew better than anyone else and yet not at all.

"Tauriel," she said, trying out the sounds on her tongue. That was her name:  _Tauriel._

Tauriel's concern turned to shock and confusion. Briar took her offered hand, growing even dizzier as she felt Tauriel's smooth skin finally brushing hers in the real world.

"How do you know my name?" she asked.

Briar leaned forward, getting to her feet. Her head ached; she felt that at any moment she would keel over.

"Why, I'm in love with you, of course," she said, very matter-of-factly, and then she smiled up into Tauriel's face and passed out, falling into her arms.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's Tauriel's side of the story, featuring my favorite headcanon of aroace Legolas (and some queerplatonic Gigolas).  
> Next chapter, things get interesting with Kili and Tauriel!

Princess Tauriel's life up to the moment where the girl told her she was in love with her had, for the most part, made a mundane and monotonous kind of sense. She had a father and a mother who loved her, a brother whom she tolerated on the surface but was attached to deep down, and a happy existence in her castle in the kingdom of Greenwood. The only things out of place didn't matter, and that bored her to death.

She read books of adventure and romance and new horizons and wished she was the protagonist. When her mother taught her how to wield a sword and shoot a bow and arrow, she felt that something was at last very nearly exciting. Then her father taught her how to run a kingdom, and her head swam with numbers and diplomacy, and she took it all back.

Her brother Legolas didn't intend to teach her anything, but she learned a lot from him, whether he meant to instruct her or not: when to talk in court, where the best food was hidden in the castle pantries, which gate guard was least likely to let a young princess wander in the forest.

Tauriel had many friends in the castle growing up. Some were lady's sons and lord's daughters, others were the children of servants. Her closest confidants were little girls her age, whom she quite clearly knew she loved. Her parents, King Thranduil and Queen Calien of Greenwood, said she reigned over her group of friends like a queen, but Tauriel thought of herself more like a captain.

She was an adventurer, always sneaking out into the woods to explore, or tiptoeing to forbidden parts of the castle. But after one adventure too many, her parents grounded her and split up her friends, forcing Tauriel to spend more time with her family.

She loved her parents dearly, but she detested their rules. She found a friend in her only somewhat irritating older brother, Prince Legolas. Legolas loved the outdoors as much as she did, but he was more of a rule-follower. He used horse riding as an excuse to leave the castle, but he always did so with permission and an escort, which Tauriel found incredibly boring. She missed her friends, and she missed her old mischief.

Legolas's sworn enemy in the castle was the Ereborian ambassador's son, Gimli. Gimli did nothing wrong that Tauriel could see—he followed as many rules as Legolas did—but for some reason, Legolas could not stand him. The two feuded for years from the time they were only children of nine, breaking more and more rules as they tried to one-up each others pranks.

Tauriel was dragged into their squabbles gleefully, and she took turns taking sides. One night she might help Legolas sneak worms into Gimil's pillow; the next morning, she would guard the escape route while Gimli stole all of Legolas's underwear. Participating in pranks like this made her think that hanging out with boys was almost as exciting as hanging out with girls.

Eventually, their antics reached an unfortunate level of extreme, and Tauriel ended up almost drowned in a well after a prank gone awry. All three youngsters were punished severely, grounded from leaving the castle for two weeks, and it was during that time of confinement together that the "hatred" dissolved into a friendly, scheming relationship. Tauriel led Gimli and her brother in the prank to end all pranks, this time to get back at their parents: swapping all the sugar in the castle kitchen for salt.

Their plan went off without a hitch, causing a miserable evening for everyone in the castle except for the three gleeful conspirators. When they were discovered, the three of them were punished even further, but to them it was worth it—not only because of their revenge, but because it formed a strong, lasting bond between them.

Legolas in Gimli and particular became each other's closest friend, forming a firm relationship which only occasionally involved pranks. When Gimli and his father moved back to Erebor when the three were in their mid-teens, Legolas was practically heartbroken to lose his best friend to distance.

Gimli was Tauriel's sole connection to the land of Erebor, and beyond the prospect of seeing her friend again, she was not excited about her family's diplomatic trip to the neighboring country's capital. She had traveled to other nations before, and the meetings she was forced to attend each time were not what she had in mind when she thought of traveling. She wanted to explore the wilds and meet the common people, not be shut up in a room with a bunch of stuffy old people. But there was nothing she could do about it, so Tauriel gritted her teeth and put up with it.

They had almost arrived at the castle and were staying in a village a half day's ride away when Legolas, forever in love with the outdoors (and little else), begged for permission to go out and take a horse ride in the surrounding forest. Thranduil reluctantly agreed, so long as Tauriel went with him. In hope of getting some small form of entertainment, she agreed without too much grumbling that Legolas would never let her roam from the paths.

The forest was beautiful, and something about it seemed almost unnatural. It was different from any other forest Tauriel had wandered through. The air was clearer, the trees greener, the birdsong more melodic. It seemed more real than any other place she had ever been, but at the same time, she thought the tiny creatures in the trees were watching her with more intelligence than any squirrel or bird ought to have. The place was close to magical, and she loved every second of it.

"Why do you think Father brought us with him on this trip?" Legolas asked her after a few minutes of quiet riding.

"To let us see the world?" Tauriel suggested. "I am nearly of age; you already are. If you're to be king eventually, it would be wise for you to be cultured. He does this every now and then, you know."

"Hm," Legolas said. He didn't sound convinced. "I don't know. He's been talking this trip up for months, and he's planning on it being longer than any other one." He paused. "I think maybe Father wants arrange a marriage between you and the prince of Erebor."

"He wouldn't," Tauriel said, but she was less certain than she wished she was.

"He might," Legolas warned.

"Well, whatever the reason, I'm glad he did, even if it does mean more boring meetings," Tauriel said, forcing herself to sound upbeat. "It's been so long since we've seen Gimli!"

"I hope he's in town," Legolas said worriedly. "What if he's in some other land with his father?"

"I'm sure he'll be there," Tauriel assured him. "Come on—let's ride a little further."

Legolas obliged, happy to lose himself in the calm of the woods again. Tauriel didn't pay attention to the paths they followed, always ready for an adventure.

After a little while, Legolas stopped his horse.

"I think we're lost, Tauriel," he said nervously. "We should try to go back to the village."

"Nonsense!" Tauriel scoffed. "We've only just got here."

Legolas sighed. "We can come back some other day. With local guides. It's not our forest anyway. We'll be around for months, Father says."

"I just want to explore, Legolas," Tauriel begged. If they came with guides, it wouldn't be any  _fun._  Why didn't he see that?

Legolas shook his head. Tauriel repressed a sigh of her own. He  _was_  right—they ought to go back. But Tauriel didn't care that much about what she  _ought_  to do.

She was about to try and change his mind when she heard a soft gasp and the sudden cacophony of rustling branches. Out of the heavens above them, a person fell to the forest floor with a thud.

The horses shrieked in surprise, going wild. Legolas's mount raced away into the forest with him on it; Tauriel's bucked her off and sprinted after its friend. Tauriel felt herself fly and hit the ground just like the person from above.

Tauriel's head spun, and she fought to breathe, but after a few moments she felt better. She pushed herself back to her feet, blinking away black spots in her vision. The other person, a girl with shoulder-length black hair splayed across her face, lay groaning on the ground a few feet away.

Tauriel leaned down, offering the girl a hand. "Are you alright?" she asked, still trying to process what had just happened. "What were you doing in that tree?"

The girl's eyes were wide and staring, a deep brown that seemed to look past Tauriel's face and into her soul. "Tauriel," she murmured, taking her hand.

Tauriel shivered, wondering if the forest really was magic, and if the girl was part of a spell. "How do you know my name?"

The girl slowly got to her feet, swaying from side to side. She smiled with all the innocence of spring, and then proclaimed, "Why, I'm in love with you, of course!"

Not missing a beat, her eyes rolled up into her head and she fell into Tauriel's arms.

* * *

Now, nothing made sense, and Tauriel loved every moment of it.

She yelped in surprise, catching the unconscious girl in her arms, her head spinning all the more. In love? How could this stranger be in love with her? They had never met, and...she was a  _girl_! None of the storybooks Tauriel had ever read had contained a tale of two girls in love!

Back along the path came Legolas, his mount still skittish, towing her own horse in hand. He stared at Tauriel's situation in astonishment, leaping off his horse and racing toward her as soon as he approached them.

"What the—?" he exclaimed. "Who is she?"

"I don't know!" Taurie said. She dragged the girl to the side of the path and propped her up against a tree. Legolas crouched beside her, frowning.

"Where did she  _come_  from?" he asked, befuddled.

"The sky," Tauriel said, and she felt her heart flutter. This  _was_  like a tale from the storybooks—love falling from the sky, an unsuspecting princess and her enchanted lover! But those stories were different, for the lover was always a handsome man, not a wild-haired girl.

She didn't have much time to think beyond that, for suddenly, the girl in her arms stirred and gasped as she woke.

"Tauriel!" the girl said again, beaming up at her. "It really is you!"

"Do I know you?" Tauriel asked hesitantly.

"Who  _are_  you?" Legolas asked before the girl could answer.

The girl tore her eyes away from Tauriel and looked upon him in surprise. "Oh! You're here, too!" She sat up, and Tauriel leaned away from her. "I am Briar Rose, but you can just call me Briar. I live in these woods."

"You  _do_?" Legolas said. "Then can you help us find our way back to the village? We're lost."

" _You're_  lost," Tauriel corrected. " _I'm_ having an adventure."

Briar grinned at her. "I  _like_  you," she said fondly, and Tauriel remembered her earlier words:  _I'm in love with you._  "But yes. I'll lead you out."'

Tauriel and Legolas remounted, and Briar walked ahead of them along the paths, chatting up a storm. As she walked, little bird flitted past her and small beasts crawled up to her. She greeted each one with a smile, treating them like friends.

Legolas made small talk, but Tauriel was too entranced with their new guide to speak. Briar Rose truly must be an enchantress or a witch, though she did not seem evil. Perhaps she was a fairy or a changeling in human guise, or born from a bird's egg like some sort of person-shaped cuckoo. Or maybe she was just a bit odd, and the strangeness of the forest was clouding Tauriel's judgement.

When they reached the edge of the forest, Legolas thanked Briar with a coin. She looked at it, unimpressed, then handed it back to him.

"I don't need this," she told him. "Give it to someone who does. If you really want to thank me, leave my woods alone. You're lucky you're not hunters like I first thought, or you would have gotten a very different welcome."

"Different than falling out of a tree?" Legolas asked.

Briar only smiled, casting a meaningful glance to Tauriel that she didn't quite understand. "Well. Maybe."

Legolas shrugged and took his coin back. Tauriel made a mental note to ensure he really did give it away to a widow in town or something, then smiled to Briar in thanks and began to follow her brother away.

Briar grabbed her wrist before she could leave. "Tauriel," she whispered. "I love you."

"I don't know you!" she protested quietly.

"Nor do I," Briar admitted, "but I wish to. Return here at midnight, and...talk with me? Please?"

Tauriel felt a shiver run through her bones. Nothing so exciting had ever happened to her before, despite all her attempts at adventure. How could she resist? And the look in Briar's eyes was so strong, so certain, that she began to wonder if they had not already met, and if she, too, was in love.

"Okay," she agreed.

With a smile and a squeeze of her hand, Briar disappeared back into the forest in the blink of an eye, making Tauriel's head spin.

"Tauriel? Are you coming?" Legolas called back.

"Yes!" she cried, and she nudged her horse forward.

* * *

At midnight, Tauriel returned to the edge of the woods, not knowing what she wanted to happen. The strange girl from the sky had scarcely left her thoughts for the rest of the day, though Legolas seemed to forget about her as soon as he had given away his coin to an orphan on the street. The name "Briar Rose" was on the tip of her tongue every time she opened her mouth, but she did not speak of Briar's request to see her again to even her brother.

She snuck out of the inn her family was staying in for the night quietly, making sure not to wake anyone. On soft feet, she walked to where the village met the forest, and she waited.

Briar walked out of woods only moments after Tauriel arrived, staring at her in open awe. "You came."

Tauriel's heart squeezed. "Who are you? Really?"

"I'm Briar," she said simply. "I live here, with my aunts. They are three sisters. The animals are my friends. I am sixteen—well, I will be, soon. And I love you."

"Do I...know you?" Tauriel asked softly.

Briar walked up to her, but stopped before they were close enough to touch. She smelled of the forest—of growing things, and a hidden magic. She wore a simple gray dress that seemed to glow in the pale moonlight. Her dark hair and darker eyes were beautiful, like the night sky. Tauriel knew she was entranced, but she believed every word the girl said.

" _I_  know  _you_ ," Briar said, just as soft. "I walked with you, once upon a dream."

Tauriel took a step forward. Their hands brushed; they clasped. She had never been so breathless in all her life.

"I am a princess," she said. "I come from Greenwood, three days' ride away. My brother is Legolas, he is my best friend. I've come to your land with my father. Legolas believes he wants me to marry the prince of Erebor."

"Don't do that," Briar murmured.

"I don't wish to," Tauriel replied.

"I've seen you in my dreams a thousand times, and loved you in every one," Briar whispered, leaning closer, "but you are so much more beautiful in real life."

Their first kiss was a gentle, soft one. Tauriel had never kissed a girl before, only men she had never quite liked; it had been a long time since she had kissed anyone at all. She loved Briar in that instant, fiercely and deeply, and she realized that this was what it was supposed to feel like.

* * *

Tauriel returned to the wood every night for a week while they stayed in the village. She learned all of Briar's story, and marveled at it. Briar did not seem to find her life strange, though living in the woods with only your three aunts was certainly abnormal. Tauriel asked her about the magic she could feel in the forest, but Briar only laughed.

"There is no magic," she assured her. "There is only us, and the trees."

Tauriel still didn't quite believe her on that account, but Briar told her story with such honesty that she accepted it all as truth.

"Have you ever wondered about your parents?" she asked one night.

"They are not here," Briar said simply. "I have my aunts; I don't need them." She hesitated, then reached into the pocket of her dress and pulled out a smooth stone. "This is all I have from them. Aunt Dori says it was my mother's. She says that it will protect me when she can't."

That sounded pretty magical to Tauriel, but she didn't mention her suspicions again.

Tauriel told Briar things she had never told anyone else before: her fears, her dreams, her hopes. She told her that she thought Legolas might be in love with Gimli, though she would never mention it to him; she told her that she was terrified of marrying some strange man she had never met; she told her that she was probably in love with her.

"That's good," Briar whispered, "because I know I am in love with you."

It all happened so fast, but Tauriel had never felt closer to anyone before. She trusted Briar with everything, and Briar trusted her. She forgot about the storybooks: this was real. This was true.

Eventually, the time came for the Greenwood family to move on to the king of Erebor's palace. Tauriel was distraught to leave her Briar. She tried to hide it, but Legolas saw through her facade.

"Tauriel, you've been acting oddly," he said as they packed to leave. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," she said stiffly, folding her stockings and shoving them into her pack. "I'm fine."

"No, you're not," Legolas scolded her. "What is it?"

Tauriel looked into his concerned blue eyes and melted. She couldn't keep her secret from her brother any longer.

"I am in love with the girl from the woods," she said, and the story spilled out: how she had returned to meet Briar at midnight the first night, and then every night hence; how they had kissed and shared secrets and more; how Tauriel could not bear the thought of losing her.

Legolas stared at her for a long moment, the look on his face unreadable. Then he furrowed his brows and said, " _What?_ "

"Legolas!" Tauriel protested, tears budding in her eyes. "Don't give me that look!"

He laughed, then took her in his arms. "I support you, Tauriel, but...you are very strange!"

"Is it because I love another girl?" she asked in a small voice.

"No...that, I've heard of," he said. "But you've only known this Briar Rose for a week! That is awfully fast to fall in love!"

"It feels like so much longer," she whispered. "Briar says she has dreamed of me for years."

Legolas stroked her long red hair and sighed. "I don't understand," he admitted, "but I am sorry that you must leave her. But we're only going a half day's ride away. Surely you can visit."

"Yes," she said in a small voice, "I probably can. But we mustn't let Father find out."

"That would probably be a good idea," he agreed. "I'll keep quiet."

"Thank you, Legolas," Tauriel murmured. She hugged him tightly, then got up, wiping tears from her eyes. "Now pack your trousers—they're all over the ground!"

That night, the day before they left, Tauriel told Briar what was happening. Briar was grieved, but they both took solace in knowing it would not be the last time they saw each other. The king's palace was not far, and Tauriel could ride out to the forest every few days.

"Don't let any pretty palace girls steal your heart," Briar teased.

"I never did before, back home," Tauriel said, though now that she knew it was possible to love another girl she looked back on her childhood and saw that she had loved many of her female friends all along. "And I  _certainly_  won't allow myself to marry Prince Fíli!"

They kissed passionately, but all too soon, Tauriel had to leave.

The Greenwood royal family did not take all of their supplies with them to the palace; the larger items, like emergency armor and weapons and some of their many horses, they left behind with a few servants. But Tauriel did not just leave some of her belongings in the forest village, she also left her heart.

Now that they were nearing the palace, Tauriel began to worry more seriously about her father's plans. On the ride there, she braved his displeasure and found the courage to ask him about the reasoning for their trip to Erebor, while Legolas listened attentively from a few feet away.

"I want you to be acquainted with our neighbors," King Thranduil replied vaguely. "You may not be the heir to the throne, but you are a member of the royal family, Tauriel. You must learn how King Thorin and his advisors think."

Tauriel could tell that he wasn't going to mention the possibility of an arranged marriage unless she prompted it. Taking a deep breath, she asked, "Do you want me to marry Prince Fíli?"

He paused, surprised at her intuition. "...No," he said, but he waited too long to answer.

"Really?" she asked. "That wasn't very convincing."

"Yes, really," Thranduil insisted. "It was not my plan, unless..."

"Unless what?" Tauriel pressed.

He sighed. "Prince Fíli has a sister: Princess Kíli. Your mother and I went to her presentation, back before our kingdoms were so friendly. In an effort to reconcile, I...well, King Thorin and I decided that a marriage alliance  _would_  be necessary, but it was not between you and Fíli. Princess Kíli is betrothed to your Legolas."

"What?!" Legolas exclaimed, horror consuming him. Tauriel was shocked by the level of his dismay, shooting him a worried glance.

"But there's an...issue," Thranduil admitted. Legolas relaxed slightly, though he was still wild-eyed. "You see...Kíli was cursed by an evil enchantress shortly after the betrothal was agreed upon, and hidden away in some far corner of the world. Her spell is set to break this summer, on her sixteenth birthday. I have come to Erebor to figure out what will truly happen—and if Kíli's curse is not broken, Tauriel, you may yet have to marry Fíli."

"And you never  _told_  us this?" Legolas demanded. "Father!"

"It was all so uncertain!" Thranduil said apologetically. "Please, son—"

But Legolas turned his horse around and rode off into the distance.

Tauriel, almost as upset at this news as her brother, cast Thranduil a glare. "Look what you've done!" she exclaimed.

"Tauriel—"

But she turned and followed her brother, ignoring her father's cries of protest.

She caught up with Legolas quickly. They rode in angry silence together for nearly ten minutes, before Legolas pulled on his reins almost violently, bringing his horse to an abrupt halt.

Tauriel stopped beside him. Tears streamed down Legolas's face. She had never seen him so upset.

"I can't believe this!" he spat. "I'm nineteen years old, and all this time I thought my life was my own to choose!"

"I'm sorry," Tauriel said helplessly. "If this spell Father mentioned doesn't break, perhaps there is hope for you...?"

Legolas shook his head. "No, then it would only doom the poor girl  _and_  you! You'd have to marry Fíli!"

"It's not fair," she agreed. She had been dreading hearing this news for days; confirmation of it left a sinking feelings in her chest, but she had been given time to prepare, and now even a ray of hope, even if it was at the expense of her brother's happiness. Legolas had never imagined that he could be involved in such an arranged marriage. It stood to reason he would be upset.

Legolas swore loudly, yelling into the open sky. After a few moments, his anger melted into despair, and he slumped over in his saddle. "I can't believe this..."

Tauriel thought she knew the real reason why Legolas was so frustrated. It was not so different from hers, after all.

"Legolas..." She sighed. She hadn't wanted to push, but she felt she ought to know. "Are you in love with Gimli?"

Legolas sat up, so surprised by the question that he stopped crying. "Um...no?"

"Really?" she asked. "I don't see why you'd be so upset if you didn't have another reason other than not being able to choose your own bride, unless you'd prefer a groom." She smiled. "It's alright, I won't judge. I'm in love with Briar, after all."

Legolas laughed shortly, wiping his eyes again. "No, really. I'm not in love with him." There was something odd about the way he said it, though.

"Then...you're only friends?" she asked. "I know you miss him dearly."

Legolas sighed. "It's...weird. Not as weird as you falling in love with Briar in a week, though."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean..." He paused, frowning. "I don't...fall in love. Other people, they do, I see it all the time. But...that's not... _me_ , you know? I don't understand romance, I've never felt it. I  _do_  love Gimli...or I think I do...but not like that? I think. I miss him—I want to see him again. But I don't want to like, marry him." He twisted his mouth. "And I don't want to marry Princess Kíli, either!"

Tauriel wasn't quite sure if she understood, but she nodded. He didn't understand her, either, but all she needed was his support. She figured it was the same for him. "It will all work out," she promised him, reaching over to pat his back. "Believe in love—in mine for Briar, and yours for Gimli, even if it's not romantic."

Legolas snorted. "Believing in love won't get us anywhere."

"Then believe in us, then," she said. "You and me. We'll  _make_  it work out."

"Hmm." Legolas didn't sound convinced, but he did sound faintly hopeful. "Well. We can try."

"There we go!" Tauriel proclaimed, smiling. "Come on—we should go back before Father starts to worry."

* * *

Gimli was, in fact, there when they arrived at the palace. He was actually part of their welcoming committee, grinning broadly at Legolas and Tauriel as they rode through the palace gates.

"I've been waiting for you to arrive for weeks!" he exclaimed after all the formal introductions to Erebor's royalty were through. "As soon as I heard you were coming, I made sure my father wasn't going on a trip anytime soon!"

"You look so much older!" Tauriel exclaimed, embracing her friend. "Look at that beard!"

Gimli laughed, running a hand through the red bush that grew from his face. "It's a family thing," he said proudly. "You've seen what my father looks like—though his beard has turned white since we left!"

"I'm surprised we didn't turn him gray," Legolas said, "with all the stress we put him through."

Gimli laughed heartily and gave Legolas a crushing hug. "I've missed you," he muttered gruffly, sounding more emotional than Tauriel could remember him being. Legolas turned bright red, but he hugged Gimli back just as tightly. Tauriel smiled and pretended she couldn't hear her brother whisper that he'd missed Gimli, too.

The first day in the palace was a whirlwind of reunions and introductions. Tauriel met the charming Prince Fíli, who seemed like a nice enough person but whom she had zero attraction to, and his courteous parents. His mother, Lady Dís, did not seem like much of a people person, but his father, Lord Víli was kind and offered to answer any questions about Erebor that she had.

She also met King Thorin, who seemed stern and distant until she saw him greet his husband, Bilbo. She was surprised to find that the king of Erebor was married to a man, and the sight of them happy together brought her hope.

Tauriel itched to see Briar again. She dreamed of her sweetheart, and her thoughts always wound their way back to her when she grew bored in meetings. It took days before she convinced her father to let her go riding, and when he did, he insisted that Legolas and Gimli accompany her.

Legolas explained Tauriel's situation to Gimli, and the two of them were happy to let her leave them on their ride. Tauriel was free to visit the forest, and she pushed her horse as fast as it could go in order to see Briar soonest.

She worried that Briar would have forgotten her in the time they spent apart, but she had no reason to: they had a wonderfully happy reunion, and Tauriel was given another memory to hold onto and give her strength to last the time between visits.

She and Briar settled into a routine as the months stretched on: every few days, Tauriel rode out to the forest to see her, abandoning Legolas and Gimli to their own adventures. All was well, though the future of whatever arranged marriage was to be finalized was uncertain.

Tauriel hardly thought that anything could go wrong that blissful summer, until one day, she and Briar were discovered, and everything fell apart.


	3. Chapter 3

It was Briar's sixteenth birthday, and she knew that her aunts were planning something very special for her. Sixteen was an auspicious year, and it meant all sorts of important things. Her aunts had been hinting that her "high fate" was nearly upon her, and Briar was excited. Perhaps now, she would finally be allowed more freedom.

Actually, she had more freedom now than ever before, though her aunts didn't know that. With Tauriel, Briar reached new heights; she was truly, deeply in love. She could scarcely believe her fortune to have a lover like Tauriel, and that the beautiful woman from her dreams was now a part of her life. This summer had been the best of her life, and now coupled with the hope that she could possibly leave the forest after her sixteenth birthday, Briar thought nothing could go wrong.

"Briar, you speak so fondly of your aunts," Tauriel said as they curled up together in a bed of flowers one summer morning. "Will I ever meet them?"

"I don't know if they would approve," Briar admitted. "They always say I should stay away from outsiders...and I am not allowed to leave the forest."

"But I am a princess," Tauriel pointed out. "You say they also mention your 'high fate'. Is being with me not a high fate?" She smiled, and Briar wasn't sure if she was joking or not.

Briar laughed softly. "I do not think that is what they mean."

"I am vain to believe such a thing," Tauriel admitted, though she did not seem ashamed. "It must have to do with your magic."

"I have no magic," Briar scoffed. She had heard this from Tauriel before, but it was a ridiculous idea.

"Yes, you do," Tauriel insisted. "This whole forest is full of it. And what kind of normal person lives in a forest, with arbitrary rules like your aunts have? You don't eat meat, you can't leave the forest, you celebrate all sorts of holidays I've never even heard of!"

"I still can't believe that other people don't honor the Moon Goddess every month," Briar said, shaking her head.

"You may not think you've got magic, but I'm sure you do," Tauriel said.

"I think my aunts  _would_ like you," Briar decided. "They believe in all sorts of mysticism. Maybe  _they're_  the magic ones!"

"I bet your aunts are secretly fairies, or witches," Tauriel said, widening her eyes as if having been enlightened. "Good witches, of course, but there has to be some explanation for this!"

"You've never even met them!" Briar protested.

"But I've met  _you_ ," Tauriel pointed out. She drew Briar closer for a kiss, and she let her.

"Happy birthday, my love," Tauriel murmured between kisses, and Briar's belly filled with warmth. She loved her birthday, and she loved Tauriel, so she was doubly glad to have both in the same day.

Briar heard something in the back of her mind: a strange, indistinct sound, almost like murmuring. Surprised, she pulled away from Tauriel.

"What is it?" Tauriel asked, raising an eyebrow.

But the sound was gone. Briar shrugged, then sat up and said, "Come with me," she said. "I'm bored of sitting here."

Briar took Tauriel wandering through the woods, walking hand in hand. Tauriel had become far more comfortable in the wild, and Briar loved the way she looked at the plants and animals with such wonder. She belonged here, more than she knew.

They walked through the trees, leaving the paths far behind. They were in no danger of getting lost; Briar knew every corner of this forest. It was all she had ever known.

Truly, Briar did worry that her aunts would disapprove of her relationship. She had never mentioned Tauriel to them, and they rarely asked her what she did during her time wandering the woods. If they noticed she was gone more often, they didn't say anything. Aunt Ori might think it was sweet, and she could probably talk her way out of trouble with Aunt Dori, but Aunt Nori was hardest to charm and most likely to be upset.

And then that noise was back...it sounded like a voice, but Briar couldn't make out what it was saying.

She was interrupted from that thought by another sound, one much louder and nearer. Leaves stirred, and a murmured curse word floated through the air. She stiffened, recognizing the voice: Aunt Nori!

"Tauriel," she whispered, glancing up at her red-haired lover in fear, "we should—"

"Briar?" Nori called from behind a nearby bush. "Is that you?"

"It's Aunt Nori!" Briar hissed. Tauriel gripped her hand tightly, unsure of what to do. Briar looked around wildly for some place to hide, but she saw nothing, and it was too late.

Nori stepped out from behind the bush, holding a basket full of flowers and smiling widely. However, as soon as she saw that Briar was not alone, the smile vanished from her face.

As soon as she appeared, Briar let go of Tauriel's hand like it burned her. She jumped in front of her, trying to hide Tauriel behind herself, but the princess was much taller than she was, and it was a futile effort. Aunt Nori gaped openly at Briar's lover, sparks flashing in her eyes.

"Who is  _she_?" she demanded. "Briar?"

"She's Tauriel," Briar said as soon as she found her voice, "and she can speak!"

"Hello," Tauriel said meekly. "You must be Nori. I've heard a lot about you."

"What are you doing with my niece?" Nori growled, crossing her arms. The basket she had been carrying tipped at a precarious angle, and some of the flowers—blue, Briar's favorite color—fell out onto the forest floor.

"She...I..." Tauriel paused, looking at Briar helplessly.

"We are in love," Briar said, taking Tauriel's hand again and jutting out her chin defiantly. "And we have been for some months now."

Aunt Nori looked between them in blank shock for a few moments. Then her expression darkened.

"Briar." Her voice was sharp. "The cottage. Now." She turned her icy glare to Tauriel. "And  _you_ —get out of this forest, and don't come back anytime soon!"

"But—" Briar protested despairingly.

"Now!"

She cast a last pleading glance at Tauriel:  _Don't go far._  Then she sprinted away, wondering how she could charm her way out of this situation. Her heart was in her throat. She had never imagined being found out this way; if she had, at some point, decided to tell her aunts about Tauriel, she had wanted to do it on her own terms. It hadn't really been Nori's  _fault_ , exactly, but Briar was still full of fear and anger. What could she do to make this turn out alright?

As she ran through the forest, noise filled her ears. She usually liked to walk slowly, as not to startle the woodland creatures, but she ran without care, scaring away squawking birds and chittering squirrels. And on top of that, the strange almost-voice was back, and she wondered if someone was following her.

Briar burst into the cottage, her mind whirring as she calculated all the things she could possibly say. She flung the door open and stopped in her tracks, staring at Dori and Ori. Her other two aunts were staring at her in frozen shock, supporting a sagging, top-heavy cake.

Briar stared at them, wild-eyed, for a few long moments, then turned away. Immediately, Dori and Ori had a whispered argument, and within a few seconds, Ori called out, "Briar, dearest, what's wrong?"

Briar turned back around, on the verge of tears. Dori had thrown a cloth over the cake and was now washing her hands in a bucket of water, pretending that Briar hadn't seen the surprise cake. Ori walked up to her and took her in her arms.

Briar sniffled on her aunt's shoulder, holding back tears. "It's..."

Before she could explain, the door flew open again. Nori stormed into the cottage, and Briar could feel the tension in the air crackling like lightning.

"I found her in the forest, with some girl she claimed she's in love with!" Nori proclaimed. "On today, of all days!" She sounded more distraught than Briar had thought she would be.

Ori let go of Briar abruptly and stepped back, staring at her with wide, fearful eyes. "Briar? Is this true?"

Briar looked away. She knew her aunts would be disappointed, but she had held out hope that somehow things would turn out alright. This was different than she had anticipated, but she was uncertain of how much worse it would get.

"Briar?" Ori prompted again.

Slowly, Briar gave a jerking nod of agreement.

Dori gasped softly, her hands flying up to cover her mouth. "No!"

"Briar..." Ori sighed, but she didn't finish her thought.

Nori strode past her, and all three of Briar's aunts were soon huddled together conferring amongst themselves about what to say. Sick with nerves, Briar chewed on her lip. Fretfully, she wondered what Nori had said to Tauriel after she had left, and if she was alright.

At last, Dori, the eldest of her aunts, turned back around, the other two standing by her shoulders. Nori's expression had softened somewhat, but her arms were crossed. Ori clasped her hands together, worry visible in her furrowed brows. Dori's face was gentle, and she had a small smile upon her lips, though she looked more concerned than the other two.

"Briar, my dear," Dori began, "today is your sixteenth birthday."

Briar blinked. This had nothing to do with Tauriel. What was Aunt Dori talking about?

"It is a date of much significance," Dori continued, "but...Oh, this is coming out all wrong!"

Upset, Briar swallowed back tears. The noise was back, clouding her mind with almost-words and faint whispers. She wished she could think clearly, or that anything anyone said would start making sense.

"The time has come to tell you the truth," Ori said, her voice soft but firm.

"What do you mean?" Briar asked. "Am I not in trouble?"

"You're in trouble, young lady," Nori growled, "but we are all in trouble together."

"What are you talking about?" Briar asked, her voice climbing into a higher register. She sounded almost like she was whining, and she hated herself for falling apart like this. She had dreamt of telling her aunts about Tauriel, and while it was not happening in the same way, the feelings were almost the same: overwhelming helplessness and confusion, mingled with stubborn pride. She was not ashamed of her love, only afraid of its consequences.

"We are not your aunts," Ori said, shattering Briar's entire world in one sentence. "And you are not a forest girl named Briar Rose."

Briar was so confused by this pronouncement that she simply stared at the three women who stood before her for a full minute, trying to process what Ori had just said.

They were not her aunts? And she was not named Briar Rose? Then who were they, and who was  _she_ , if she was not the niece of Dori, Nori, and Ori, a child of the trees and a friend of the forest as a whole?

"What?" she asked hoarsely when she found her voice.

"We are your fairy guardians," Nori said.

"Fairy?" she whispered, wondering how Tauriel had known.

The three women looked at each other. Then, in a flash, each one of them drew a wand from their robes that Briar had never known was hidden there. Briar felt a soft wind blow through her hair, the figures of the women blurred and changed, until it was not her aunts standing before her, but three diminutive fae, floating a foot off the ground. They were more beautiful now, and something about them seemed so powerfully magical that Briar wondered how she had ever been convinced by their fakery of humanity before.

"But...why did you lie to me?" she asked, her shock quickly changing to fury. "My whole life is a lie!"

"You are a princess, Briar," Dori said. Even her voice sounded different: it was not the warm, crackling sound she was so familiar with, but a smoother, more confident noise. "Princess Kíli. You were cursed as an infant, and as the protectors of your families, we took you into the forest to guard and protect you. We are not far from the home of your family, but this forest has been enchanted so that no malicious force may enter. You are safe here, under our watch, which is why you could never leave."

A princess? She was a princess? Briar felt dizzy. She had heard this story before, but from another source: Tauriel.

"I'm the lost princess?" she asked incredulously. " _This_  is my 'high fate'?"

"Yes," Ori confirmed. "Your family misses you, I know, and soon—"

"But if I'm the lost princess, then...then I'm betrothed to Prince Legolas!" she cried, horrified at the thought. Tauriel had explained her and her brother's predicament, and how she might be forced to marry Prince Fíli—Briar's  _brother_ , she realized in horror—or else Legolas would be forced to marry Kíli—who was actually Briar!

"Yes," Nori cut in, "which is why you cannot stay with that girl!"

"But I love her!" she cried in protest. In her fury, Briar slammed her clenched fist on the wall of the cottage. The voice inside her head hissed, and Briar, shocked at her own anger, took a deep breath and tried to calm herself.

"Briar—Kíli!" Dori said. "All is not lost. I'm sure if we explained to your family and that of your groom—"

"No!" Nori snapped. "That's not how treaties  _work_ , Dori! After all these hundreds of years I would think you would know that by now!"

"Nori, I'm trying to give her hope!" Dori snapped, turning on her sister. "I think  _you_  would know by now that the rules of mere  _mortals_  are not set in stone—"

"Enough!" Ori cried, noticing how Briar shrank away in horror from the argument.

"Kíli," Ori said once things were calm. "Today is your sixteenth birthday. We were planning on telling you tomorrow, once everything was safe, but due to the circumstances we changed our plans. Today, your curse is set to break. Smaug, the evil enchantress, cursed you—"

"To fall into a sleep should I touch the spindle, yes, I know!" Briar cried. "Tauriel told me— _she_  was always truthful with me!"

"But the curse can be broken with true love!" Ori said, her face alight with hope. "And if you stay here, perhaps it will not be fulfilled at all—"

"I will  _not_  stay here!" Briar cried furiously, her anger overflowing again. "How do I know you are not lying? I never heard  _that_  part of the story, and it sounds awfully convenient for you!"

"Kíli!" Dori protested.

" _That's not my name!_ " Briar howled. "I'm Briar Rose!"

"Kíli!" Nori cried, but Briar would not hear it any longer. The voice in her head cackled indistinctly, and she turned and fled out of the cottage and into the forest.

All of her shock, confusion, and anger boiled over, and she raced through the forest in a rage. She ran blindly for a few minutes before collapsing on the ground and sobbing her heart out.

All her life was a lie. There was proof in the fairies' magic; it was not some cruel birthday trick. She, Briar Rose, was not actually Briar Rose. She was a princess, the lost princess Tauriel spoke about in such dreading tones.

Briar dreamed of the future all the time: of Tauriel, of her aunts discovering her secrets, of simply scaring hunters in the woods, and though her dreams came true they were never exactly the same. She remembered a dream from years ago, full of pain and horror and anger so strong it had woken her. She had thought it meant she would injure herself in the near future and was grateful when it did not come to pass, but now she recognized the same feelings in her heart now.

Briar...or was she Kíli?...had to find out the truth for herself. Hearing this news from her "aunts" was not enough. She had to hear the story from the people who knew it best—the royal family. There was only one place she could do that: in the palace, a half day's ride away.

Briar's anger cooled suddenly, transforming into an icy resolve. She perceived exactly what she had to do and how to accomplish it, and she needed to act quickly, before the sun set on her sixteenth birthday.

Tauriel had to be close by; Briar didn't believe she would have left after that dreadful encounter with Nori. She had no time to search for her, but she could not leave her waiting. She quickly scribbled out a note.

_My love, my Tauriel:_

_My aunts—no, they are fae, like you joked! magical creatures! I can scarcely believe this is the truth!—have revealed things to me that I_ _ **must**_   _verify this very day. I ride to the palace now, upon a wild horse. Please do not stay in this forest any longer, ride back to the palace and meet me there!_

_Yours forever,  
_ _Briar Rose_

After a moment's pause, Briar stopped. No, she was not Briar Rose, if the fairies were to be believed. Instead, she crossed out her name and wrote another one instead, until the paper read:

~~_ Briar Rose  
_ ~~ _Princess Kíli ... ?_

Kíli folded the paper in half and made her way to the bed of flowers where she and Tauriel had met a few hours earlier. She dropped the paper amidst the blossoms. Hopefully, Tauriel would find her message, if the wind did not blow it away.

Her hand touched the runestone she carried in her pocket always. She had once treasured it as a gift from her aunts, but now she recalled the story attached to it. It was a gift from her her mother, who, if the fairies were correct, was Lady Dís. Kíli now felt a foreign longing for her birth family, one she had never known before.

The fairies had promised the stone would protect her, but Kíli didn't want their protection. She was torn between keeping it as a token of her mother's love and abandoning it in the forest.

The voice in the back of her mind resurged in her indecision. She still could not work out what it was saying, but she was too preoccupied to focus on that or even wonder why she was hearing voices at all.

As a compromise, she picked the letter back up and scrawled a final remark:

_P.S._

_I'm leaving you this stone. It is supposed to protect its keeper; I hope it protects you._

Kíli laid the stone atop the letter and left the flowerbed as quickly as she had arrived. Then she raced to the edge of the forest, whistling for a wild horse to come and carry her. One appeared within a matter of minutes, cantering across the plain. Tauriel thought her bond with the forest animals was strange and magical, but to Kíli, it was all she had ever known. She had never asked to ride a horse as great a distance as this, but she knew her mount would carry her.

She urged the horse forward and sped toward the palace in the distance, ready to see the truth for herself.

* * *

Tauriel claimed that it was a half day's journey between the forest and the palace, but Kíli arrived in only a matter of hours. She let the horse free once she was within walking distance of the grand building, staring up at its towers in awe.

She had never left the forest before. The wide open expanse of the plain and the sky had astonished her as she rode. She felt so naked and bare beneath the golden sun. She was used to the trees hiding her, and now she felt as if everything she did was within the sight of some watchful eye high in the heavens.

The only building Kíli was familiar with was her cottage. The palace was easily a hundred times bigger or more, made of huge stone slabs and complex patterns that were incomprehensible to a simple forest girl.

She trembled as she wandered through the palace gates, her heart thumping in her chest. Was this her birthright? she wondered. Or were those wicked fairies lying still about her true identity? She didn't know if she could ever feel at home in the grandeur of the palace, even if she was the lost princess.

The palace was surrounded by a courtyard. There were benches and statues, but also strangely curated trees and false ponds. Kíli marveled at the strangeness of these, so clearly human constructions. They were almost a mockery of nature's beauty.

A cobbled path led to the entrance of the main building. Hesitantly, Kíli walked along it. She was not the only one in the courtyard. Other people wandered its paths, some dressed in fancy dresses and coats, others in clothing more like her own. Gentry and servants, she realized, remembering the tales her aunts had told her.

She was interrupted from her thoughts by the pounding of horse hooves on stone. Kíli turned around to see who was coming, but she moved too slowly. Above her reared a grand white stallion, its hooves about to break her skull open.

Kíli screamed and dived out of the way. The horse's rider shouted in alarm, pulling his horse to a stop. The rider dismounted and rushed over to where Kíli was splayed on the ground, her head spinning.

"By the heavens, I am so sorry!" exclaimed the rider, his blue eyes wide. "I didn't see you there!"

Kíli groaned, sitting up. The rider helped her back to her feet and awkwardly tried to brush dirt off her dress, but she pushed his arm away.

"I'm fine, I think," she said, rubbing her forehead. "You scared me there!"

Now that she was standing, she saw that she was nearly level with the rider, who appeared to be only a few years older than she was. He had intricately braided golden hair and an even more intricately braided golden mustache, but it was his eyes that drew her attention. They were a startling blue, and while they looked nothing like Kíli's own, they seemed hauntingly familiar.

"I'm so sorry," he repeated. "Is there anything I can do to make it up to you? I gave you quite the fright!"

"I, uh..." Kíli frowned. "Well, yes. I'm new to the palace, actually. Do you know if you could—?"

"Show you around?" the rider offered. "Yes, of course!" He turned and clapped his hands. Immediately, one of the servingfolk appeared at his elbow.

"Take my horse back to the palace stables," he ordered. "Thank you."

Dutifully, the servant led his horse away. Kíli stared at him in surprise; she hadn't realized that he was one of the nobility, though now that she looked at his fancy clothing she supposed it was obvious.

"What's your name, miss?" he asked her, offering her his arm.

"Briar Rose," she answered automatically.

"I'm Prince Fíli," he said. "I really am sorry about all this—I'll try to make it up to you."

Kíli almost stopped in her tracks, but she forced herself to keep walking. Prince Fíli?  _This_  was Prince Fíli? She heard Tauriel's derisive voice in her mind, speaking of the horrors marrying Fíli would bring. But he seemed awfully nice so far. Tauriel  _had_  said that she didn't actually think he was a terrible person, that she was just morally opposed to him, but Kíli had trouble overcoming her own bias from hearing Tauriel's opinions.

And added to that was the complication that, if her aunts were right, Fíli was her own brother. She was now arm in arm with the first family member she had ever met. And what better person was there to answer her questions about her story than a member of the royal family?

Fíli didn't seem to notice her unease. He led her through the courtyard and through the grand doors of the palace, chatting all the while.

"So, is there any place in particular you'd like to see?" he asked. "The art gallery, or the library?"

"Do you have any sort of...history room?" she asked tentatively.

"The museum!" he said. "I'll take you there." He steered her through another hall, walking as if he owned the place, which Kíli realized he sort of did.

"So, Briar Rose, where do you come from?" he asked.

"A village in the forest," she answered, thinking on her feet.

"Hmm," he said, nodding. "And what are you doing here in the palace?"

"I've come to learn about other places," she said. "I've never really left the village, though I always wanted to, so I finally decided to come see the world. And what better place to start than the palace?"

"There is no better place," Fíli agreed proudly. "Erebor is a mighty kingdom, and we are now in its heart. You've come to the right place if you want to learn about our history!"

"What's your favorite part about the palace?" she asked.

Slowly, Kíli eased into the conversation. It was easier once she got him talking about himself, but he was considerate enough—or he felt guilty enough—to always turn the talking back around to her. Begrudgingly, she found that he was a very likable person and a gentleman. He would have made a decent brother.

It was hard to focus as Fíli led her around the museum. The voice in her head was now almost a constant hum, murmuring things that seemed halfway malicious. Kíli had hoped she would find out about the lost princess and the curse placed upon her in the museum, but it was all ancient history: the founding of Erebor, its many wars, the legacies of its monarchs. The most recent events spoken of was the vanquishing of Smaug by King Thorin and his siblings, who included Fíli's own mother, Lady Dís.

"If it hadn't been for Mother, Thorin would have died," Fíli said proudly. "She lost her magic in that fight, but she always says it was worth it."

"That's fascinating," Kíli murmured, and it truly was. It was bizarre to think that Dís was also her own mother, and every time she remembered that Fíli was her  _brother_ , she felt a jolt of shock run through her.

"That evil Smaug wasn't done with our family yet, though," Fíli continued darkly. "But tonight, with the celebration—" He paused, frowning. "Are you alright?"

At the mention of the name "Smaug", Kíli heard a loud hiss in her head, and she winced.

"Um...fine," she said, shaking her head.

"Sorry," he said. "Anyway, over here is the sword my great-great-grandmother wielded when she slayed the evil goblin king..."

Kíli groaned internally. Much to her dismay, Fíli had misinterpreted her expression to mean that she didn't wish to hear about Smaug. She had  _almost_  gotten on to something! And what he had he said about a celebration...?

Then her thoughts of disappointment flew away as the voice's growls increased in volume and intensity and Fíli droned on about ancient wars and unimportant history.

After touring the museum, Fíli took her to the art galleries and then back to the courtyard to walk through the gardens. He even took her to the stables and had her feed his horse, Storm, who was quite nice when it wasn't trying to kill her.

Despite the voice and Kíli's own anxiety, she found she enjoyed her time with Fíli. He was a good man, and he seemed to appreciate her company.

"It's so hard to talk to people who aren't my family, but you're quite nice," Fíli confessed while stroking his horse's mane. "I'm almost glad that Storm here nearly killed you! This day has been lovely."

"It was rather nice," Kíli agreed. She truly believed that, but it was so hard to focus on anything right at that moment. "Thanks for showing me around, and for, well...not killing me."

Fíli laughed. "Actually, I was thinking, would you like to have dinner with me and my family? You don't seem too shy around royalty, and you're very interesting. Why, with half the things you've told me about the forest, I'm sure you'll charm my father at the least!"

His father— _her_  father, too. Kíli's heart leapt. If she could meet the  _rest_  of her family...even if they didn't know who she was, it was bound to be a rewarding experience.

"I would be delighted," she answered with a smile.

"Don't get any, um, romantic notions about this, though," Fíli said awkwardly, not meeting her eyes. "Even if I wanted that, I'm probably already spoken for. There's a visiting monarch in the palace right now, and...I think Thorin means for me to marry his daughter."

"I have a feeling you won't," Kíli said, as much to reassure herself as him. "Actually, I know you won't." And in that moment she realized she did, though she didn't know how. But she was certain as the sky was blue that Fíli and Tauriel would  _not_  marry, and not just because she wanted Tauriel to herself. It felt like the certainty of her dreams had crept into real life, just like the strange voices that didn't belong had crept into her mind.

"But you've never even met her," he said, puzzled. "My uncle gets what he wants, unless Bilbo disagrees, and he doesn't seem to oppose it. How would you know?"

"I just do," she said confidently. "And don't  _you_  take any romantic notions about me. I am definitely spoken for!"

"Actually, I think that bringing you along to dinner tonight will irritate my family," he confided. "They just want me to marry that Tauriel girl, and I'll do anything to annoy them. It's not that I don't  _like_  Tauriel," he assured her, "it's just I don't  _love_  her—or anyone, really. I'd rather just stay by myself, or with my horses!"

"Well, I'll help you frustrate them," she said, smiling. She knew a thing or two about wanting to get back at her guardians. Even before she realized that her "aunts" had lied to her about everything, their rules had frustrated her. She was glad to help Fíli out.

Fíli took her to a dining hall. As it was midsummer, the sun was still shining at mealtime. Kíli smiled politely as she sat down beside Fíli at the table, greeting his family. The voice in her head was still indistinct, but it grew louder all the time, and it made it terribly hard to focus on anything.

"Who's your friend, Fíli?" asked a curly-haired man had informed her was his uncle Bilbo Baggins, the husband of King Thorin.

"This is Briar Rose," Fíli introduced her. "I met her in the courtyard today."

"By 'met', he means he nearly killed me with his horse," Briar said with a smirk.

"What?" exclaimed another man, sitting down beside Bilbo.

"It's not like it sounds, Father," Fíli protested. "Well, it is, but I've made it up to her, haven't I?"

"I haven't decided yet," Kíli teased. Fíli laughed, but the other two seemed a little confused.

 _Princess,_  the voice in her mind said, the first word she could distinguish from the chaos. Kíli shivered and tried to ignore it, which was less difficult now that she was meeting new people.

Soon, two more people arrived at the dinner table. Fíli introduced them as his mother, Lady Dís, and King Thorin.

Kíli had been shocked to meet her brother and awed to meet her father, but the emotion she felt upon meeting her mother was strange. Dís looked between her and Fíli, and her eyes narrowed. For a second, her heart stopped, and she wondered if Dís noticed a resemblance between them. Then Dís focused her gaze on Kíli and her lips tightened. Kíli knew immediately that she was not liked. She looked into her mother's eyes and found only disapproval.

Her heart trembled and she felt ashamed. She knew that if Dís knew who she really was, she would be treated differently. What kind of a sham was she putting on? Pretending to be a forest girl, a stranger, someone who knew nothing of their family? And yet, she  _was_ all of those things, even as she faked them. But why was she helping Fíli in his own deception, one that would annoy his parents, if they were also hers?

Aside from that momentary frown, Dís nodded to her and acted courteous. But if she hid her dislike, Thorin showed it openly. "Who's this?" he asked with a frown.

"Briar Rose," Bilbo answered. "Fíli's new friend. She's quite nice."

"Is she, now," Thorin grumbled. He sat down heavily. "Where's the food?"

As soon as he complained, servants rushed into the room bearing plates of hot food. Kíli stared at all the meat on the table and her stomach rolled in disgust. How could anyone bear to eat that? Hesitantly, she filled her plate full of greens and politely declined any offers of meat.

"You don't eat meat?" Thorin asked, raising an eyebrow. "What, were you raised by fairies or something?"

Kíli almost dropped her fork in surprise. "N-no," she stammered. At the mention of fairies, the voice in her head cackled in surprise. She was seriously beginning to worry about that, but she had to focus on Thorin in that moment.

"Be polite, Thorin," Bilbo scolded.

"I don't get that saying," Víli said with a frown. "Do fairies not eat meat?"

"They do it to respect all nature," Dís explained. "Dori explained it to me, when she still..." She drifted off. Kíli stared at her plate as if it was the most interesting thing in the world.

"So, Briar," Víli asked, breaking the tension. "Where do you come from?"

"I live in the forest village," she answered. "I'm just visiting the palace."

"And how did you run into our Fíli?" Dís said, her voice tinged with coolness.

Fíli smiled widely, clearly glad that his plan was having its intended effect. "Why, Mother, I almost ran over her in the courtyard!"

"Fíli!" Dís exclaimed. "How many times have I told to be  _careful_  once you pass through the gates?"

"Yes, I know," Fíli said sheepishly, "but it did give me the opportunity to get to know such a lovely girl."

Kíli smiled. She felt weird knowing that this man fake flirting with her was her brother, but she guessed it was alright since she was the only who knew.

"Well, don't give her any notions," Thorin admonished him, glaring at Kíli openly. "It may not be official yet, but you're spoken for."

Fíli's shoulders drooped. "Really?" he asked in dejected tones. "Thranduil finally agreed?"

"Like I said, it's not official," Thorin said. He rolled his eyes and shoved a chunk of meat into his mouth. "That daughter of his, Tauriel, she's always asking to go riding and he claims that's why he hasn't broached the subject with her yet. But he promised he'll give me his final answer by the end of the week—we're both still holding out for the original plan to work, you know that."

"And by the end of tonight, we'll know," Bilbo murmured.

"Yes," Víli agreed. "Briar, are you staying for the celebration tonight?"

"Celebration?" Kíli asked. "What celebration?"

"You've heard the story about the lost princess?" Bilbo asked. The rest of the family all looked down in the same moment as he spoke, and for just a moment Kíli could feel the sharp pain of their loss. She felt it with them, and longed to suddenly stand up and proclaim that she was the lost princess. But that would solve nothing, even if they believed her.

"Well...I don't know the details," she admitted. It was true: the stories she'd gotten from Tauriel and her aunts were vague and scattered. She wanted  _all_ truth.

"On the day Princess Kíli was presented to the kingdom, an evil witch, Smaug, cursed her to prick her finger on a spindle on her sixteenth birthday and fall into an eternal sleep," Bilbo explained. "The family guardians cast a counter-spell, that her true love would save her, and then hid her away to protect her."

"Today is her sixteenth birthday," Dís said. She smiled, but it was a fragile smile. "The celebration tonight is for her return home, should the curse be broken or not come to pass at all. The guardians, her fairy aunts, are kindly women and will bring her home on the morrow, and I will finally get to meet my daughter."

Kíli could feel her pain and love from across the table, and she wanted to fall weeping into her mother's arms. She had never missed her family's love. Her aunts had been enough. But now that she was with these people, her other family, she wanted to be loved by them, too. In a flash she understood why Dori, Nori, and Ori had lied to her all her life: they simply wanted to keep her safe. Now she regretted so cruelly leaving them. Would they ever forgive her? And now that she had lied to her family, could they ever lover her like their daughter and sister and niece?

"And if the curse is not broken, we'll all be as good as dead, so we might as well enjoy ourselves now," Thorin added darkly.

"Thorin, don't speak like that!" Bilbo said.

Thorin sighed and leaned over to kiss his husband on the cheek. "I'm sorry, love." He looked over to the rest of them and said, "And to you, too. I'm just...worried about Kíli. I want her to come home as much as the rest of you."

"I hope she does," Kíli murmured quietly, trying not to be betray her own emotion. "I know she'll love you as much you love her."

Even as she spoke the words, the voice in her head growled. Now she could understand the words:  _Liar. They hate you. Tauriel left you. She's not coming for you._

With a pang, Kíli realized she hadn't thought of Tauriel in hours. Why had she not come? Had she even found the note? Now, Kíli wished she had kept her stone to give to Dís as proof that she was Kíli.

All too soon, the dinner was over. Bilbo and Víli bid goodbye to her with genuine cheer, and even Dís and Thorin had softened to her over the course of the meal.

"Are you staying for the celebrations?" Fíli asked.

Kíli glanced out a nearby window. The sun was almost set. Only a little sliver of gold stuck out over the horizon. She should go back home to her aunts, where she was safe, but something in her gut told her she should stay.

 _Stay, stay,_ whispered the voice in her head. She knew she shouldn't listen to that, that it was probably part of her curse, but she  _wanted_  to stay.

But where was Tauriel? If she stayed for the celebration, she might never see her love again.

"No," she said reluctantly. "Thank you for inviting me, though. And for being a friend."

"It was certainly nice meeting you," Fíli said, smiling. "Good luck in your travels."

"Thank you," she said again. "You should go to your party. Your family is waiting. And—" She paused. "I think I'll see you again, sometime. I hope you find your sister."

"Thanks, Briar," he said. He smiled at her again, then walked away.

Kíli was now alone in the palace. She walked purposefully toward the exit, certain she knew the way, but after a few minutes she realized she was lost.

Surely it was this way... Kíli turned around and retraced her steps, but where she should have found the dining hall was instead a closet.

Confused, she wandered the halls with an increasing anxiety.

 _Lost!_ hissed the voice.  _You've lost yourself!_

Kíli walked for what felt like hours. At last, she found herself in the depths of the palace, fearful and alone. It was dark and cold down here.

She saw a door before her. It emanated with power. She knew she shouldn't touch it, but she was so curious...

 _Open it,_  murmured the voice.

Almost against her will, Kíli reached forward and opened the door.

It swung open, revealing a cellar that was totally empty save for a strange contraption she had never seen before. It was a wooden construction, full of wheels and thread, and with a single long needle sticking out into the air.

"Spindle," whispered the voice, only this time it was not in her head. The spindle glowed with a sickly yellow light.

Some unseen force moved her feet forward. Subconsciously, Kíli knew what was happening, but she was powerless to stop it. A curious fog had filled her mind, and she felt detached from the world as she approached the deathly spindle.

Before her appeared a tall woman cloaked in shadow. Her face was split in an evil grin, and Kíli knew her at once as Smaug the Enchantress.

"Touch the spindle, my dear, and meet your high fate," Smaug purred.

Kíli reached a trembling finger forward. The spindle was so close, so tempting... She could imagine it pricking her finger, she could feel the blood dripping down her finger...

"No!" a voice cried from behind her.

Surprised, Kíli jerked away from the needle. Fíli stood in the doorway, his eyes wide with dismay.

"Briar, don't!" he begged. "You're the princess! You're my sister! Wait—!"

"Kíli, darling," crooned the Enchantress. "You deserve better than him. If you touch the needle, your Tauriel will return to you."

Tauriel... Kíli turned away from Fíli, a dreamy smile spread wide on her face. She and Tauriel could return to their bed of flowers and lie there forever, if only she would touch the needle.

Smaug gently took her hand and guided her finger downward. Kíli let her, her heart glad.

"No!" Fíli cried out hopelessly, and Kíli touched the spindle.

At once, the world fell apart. Smaug rose from the floor in a billowing black cloud, and the spindle burned with a yellow fire. Kíli's mind shattered and she saw doubles of everything. Her finger bled, and though it was only a slight wound, it hurt worse than any other injury she had ever endured.

"Kíli!" sobbed Fíli, and "Kíli!" exulted Smaug, but Kíli was could not respond and she fell to the ground. Darkness closed in around her, and Smaug's triumphant laughter was the last thing she heard before she eternal sleep claimed her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things look bad, but there's 2 chapters left :)  
> Thanks for reading and commenting!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here Tauriel comes riding to the rescue! (ft. aroace Fili)
> 
> Also: shipsicle created some AMAZING art for this chapter, check it out!!!  
> [ART](https://shipsicle.tumblr.com/post/162332658395/yay-more-hbb17-art-%EF%BE%89-%E3%83%AE-%EF%BE%89%EF%BE%9F-this-is-for)

After Nori sent her away with a fierce warning to never return, Tauriel fled, but she didn't go far. No matter what Nori said, there was no way she was going to leave Briar in a situation like that.

Briar said that she was getting to know the forest faster than she expected, but Tauriel didn't feel like she knew her way around at all. She wandered through the trees for hours, totally lost. Every now and then she would find a familiar rock or tree, but as soon as she passed it, she was off course again.

While she walked, she had plenty of time to fret about Briar. She had wanted to meet Briar's aunts, but not like this! Nori was the fiery one, according to Briar, and she had certainly had a flaming temper when she ran into them. It was scary, but she'd also heard about Nori's good side: how she protected Briar from a not-so-friendly bear years ago, how she was funny and had the best jokes, how she gave the most lenient punishments for rule-breaking out of the three aunts.

She hoped that held true this time. Briar was in big trouble for keeping such a secret, she knew. She hoped it was the secret-keeping aspect that was the issue, and not the fact that Briar's lover was a girl.

Tauriel wandered for hours, looking for any sign of Briar in the forest. Surely she could not be lost to her forever? Even if she was told to never speak to Tauriel again, she doubted Briar would listen. She knew that Briar loved her just as much as she loved Briar, and neither of them could bear the thought of never seeing each other again.

It was only as the sun began its slow descent toward the ground that Tauriel began to worry about her own punishment. Surely Legolas and Gimli would be worried about her. Usually her visits did not take this long. And if she did not return to the palace soon, her father would surely be furious and punish both her and her brother. Legolas would be furious with her.

She was already on thin ice with her father. She adamantly refused to agree to any betrothal contracts with Prince Fíli, much to Thranduil's chagrin. Her only comfort in this was that Fíli seemed just as excited about this proposal as she did. If they could only stall the agreement long enough, perhaps it would fall through.

Tauriel gasped as she realized that today was, in fact, a very bad day to get lost in the forest. It was a half day's ride back to the palace, and she  _needed_  to be home in time for the grand celebrations. It was the lost princess's sixteenth birthday, and if all went well, it was time for her to return. And though everyone was nervous that things would go wrong, to miss such an event would be likely to upset Erebor's royal family, and possibly ruin the alliance her father was trying to maintain.

Tauriel had to go back. But she had still not found Briar, nor any sign of her! She could not abandon her love!

Abruptly, she found herself back at the bed of flowers where they had lain earlier that morning. She was beyond relieved to find herself having wandered to a familiar spot and threw herself down among the blossoms. Tears welled out from her eyes. Everything was going wrong, and she might never see Briar again!

Her hand brushed something strange. It felt like paper, but what would paper be doing in such a place?

She looked up and realized that she was, indeed, touching a piece of paper. Eagerly, she picked it up. A rock fell off it—no, not a rock, but a stone! Briar's runestone! Her heart leapt. Briar must have left a note for her here!

 _My love, my Tauriel:_  (read the note)

 _My aunts—no, they are fae, like you joked! magical creatures! I can scarcely believe this is the truth!—have revealed things to me that I_ _ **must**_   _verify this very day._

Upon reading this preposterous statement, Tauriel choked on air. What?! She had been right in her joking guess at Briar's true nature? Was this simply a prank? But she doubted Briar would tease about such a revelation, especially in a time like this.

_I ride to the palace now, upon a wild horse. Please do not stay in this forest any longer, ride back to the palace and meet me there!_

_Yours forever,_  
~~_Briar Rose  
_ ~~ _Princess Kíli ... ?_

Tauriel stared at the rest of the note in astonishment. She was not sure what things had been "revealed" to Briar, but the second name at the bottom made her think that Briar was under the impression that she was the lost princess of Erebor!

If that were true—if any of this were true—well...Tauriel didn't even know what the meant, but she did know Briar was in grave danger.

At the bottom of the letter was a post script:

_P.S.  
_ _I'm leaving you this stone. It is supposed to protect its keeper; I hope it protects you._

Tauriel clenched the stone in her fist, distraught. Briar should have kept the stone! She was the one who needed the protection!

Tauriel didn't know what to do now. She ought to return to the palace, find Briar, and bring her safely back to the forest, but what if her father found out they were together? Then they would be in an even worse situation!

A soft hand touched her shoulder, and she shrieked in surprise. She scrambled backward, heart pounding, and looked up into Nori's face.

"I thought I told you to leave," Nori said, but she didn't sound angry, but...broken.

"I couldn't just  _leave_  her!" Tauriel protested, her cheeks flushed. "I wouldn't do that to her!"

Nori sighed. She was no longer human sized and wearing simple clothes, but now was much smaller, floating a few feet off the ground, and in a much more elegant (but still red) getup. Beside her were two other similarly appearing women, whom Tauriel could only assume were Briar's aunts Ori and Dori. Tauriel stared at them, astonished. They truly  _were_  fairies!

"You...are the girl Briar loves?" Ori, the youngest, asked timidly.

Hesitantly, Tauriel nodded. "And you're her aunts?" She looked down at the paper and remembered what Briar (Kíli?) had said. "Or...not."

"What's that?" Dori gasped.

"She left me a note," Tauriel said.

Nori seized the note from her and read it with intense focus. When she was done, she threw it up into the air, sparks flying from her frazzled auburn hair. "She left!" she cried out in dismay. "She's gone right into Smaug's trap!"

"What is going on?" Tauriel demanded. "Is Briar... _really_  the lost princess? And you're secretly fairies?"

"Do we look like humans?" Nori snapped. "Mortals! I swear!"

"I  _knew_  there was something magical about Briar!" Tauriel said. Her momentary victory dissipated, replaced with horror. "And she's—the spell! It's supposed to come to pass  _tonight_!"

"Yes, which is why we were going to tell her  _tomorrow_ ," Dori said. "If she had only stayed...!"

"And she left you her stone," Ori lamented. "It could have protected her, that was what Lady Dís wanted it to do!"

"I've got to save her," Tauriel proclaimed.

"Nothing can save her," Nori said bitterly. "'True love' was the best Ori could think of, and it's not even real!"

"I was under stress!" Ori huffed. "If it had been you...!"

"It didn't seem so bad, sixteen years ago," Dori said with a sigh. "The curse was far off, and we thought we could save her. We didn't even love her yet, but after raising her..."

"It's all my fault," Nori moaned. "If I hadn't run into you two it would never have come to this..."

"It's no one's fault but that witch Smaug's!" Tauriel exclaimed. " _She_  was the one who cursed Kíli! And you're acting like all is lost, but it's not. We've got to at least  _try_!"

Ori gasped and rushed toward her. "You! Miss Tauriel! She loves you!" She turned to her sisters eagerly. "Don't you see?  _True love_!"

"A girl?" Dori asked, uncertain. "I imagined it would be Prince Legolas."

"Believe me, my brother will  _not_  come to the rescue if 'true love' is involved," Tauriel said firmly. "I'm the best chance you've got." Her heart trembled as she said it: she didn't know if it would work, and she couldn't bear the thought of losing Briar—Kíli. She had to try.

"Your brother?" Nori said, frowning. "Wait...you're Princess Tauriel?"

"I am," Tauriel said regally. "And I will not take no for an answer. Now—you three, you should fly to the palace and warn the royal family! They are holding a celebration tonight, are they not? If Kíli meets them there, she'll find them. You have to let the King and her parents know what's going on!"

"What about you?" Ori asked.

Tauriel clutched the enchanted runestone in her hand. "I don't know what I'll need to do, or if Kíli will already be under the curse when I arrive. I'm slower than you, anyway. I need to prepare—I have armor and weapons in the nearby village. I must go gather them. I will come to the palace as quick as I can. And tell Kíli, if you see her..." She paused, repressing tears.

"Tell her what?" Nori prompted, her voice low and gravelly.

"Tell her that I love her," Tauriel said softly.

She felt Nori brush her cheek with a warm hand.

"You know, that stone was a gift from Kíli's mother," the fairy said, pointing to Tauriel's clenched fist. "The runes say ' _Return to me'._  Dís wanted her daughter back." She sighed. "We never told Kíli what the runes said, but I think she knew. She wants you to return to her."

"I will," Tauriel vowed.

"Bless you, princess," the Nori whispered, and then she and her sisters were gone, flying away toward the distant palace.

Tauriel took a deep breath. Holding Briar's note—no,  _Kíli's_  note—in one hand and the stone in the other, she raced out of the forest and back to the village.

* * *

In the village storehouse, Tauriel donned her armor, which she had never worn into a real battle. She tied her long red hair back so it would be out of the way and sheathed her sword. She was fondest of her mother's favorite weapon, the bow and arrow, and she grabbed that as well.

By the time she was thundering across the plains, ready to save her lover, the sun was setting rapidly. What if she was too late?

But she didn't have the time to think of that. Instead, she urged her horse to go faster, and prepared herself mentally for the battle to come.

By the time Tauriel arrived at the palace, she could tell it was too late. She stopped a fair distance away from it, analyzing her situation.

The sun had disappeared over the horizon, and the night was cold and unforgiving. A dark storm cloud hovered over the castle, and wind whipped through her ponytail. She wore a helmet covering most of her head and face, but her hair streamed out from behind it like a great plume.

Great thorny branches wrapped around the stone structures, choking the entrance way. There was no way in. Tauriel's heart sank. How could she save her princess now?

In the shadow of the palace, there was movement: a figure, making their way across the plain. Tauriel frowned and grabbed the hilt of her sword. Was this an enemy? Was it Smaug?

As the person drew nearer, she realized that it was not Smaug, but...Prince Fíli? He was sprinting away from the palace, scrambling forward as fast as he could, and an expression of pure panic spread across his face.

Tauriel nudged her horse forward and thundered toward him. As she approached him, he called out, "Help! Sir Knight! Help!"

When she met him in the plain, she reached down to help him up. Fíli grabbed her hand and hauled himself up onto her horse, yelling, "Go! Go! We have to get away from there!"

Not pausing to ask why, Tauriel turned her horse around. They rode until Fíli had calmed down and said at last in a faint voice, "Alright, we can...take a break now."

Tauriel led the horse to a small dip behind a hill in the plain. She dismounted and helped Fíli down. He still wore a princely outfit, but all his cheer and calm from court was gone, replaced by an ashen, tear-streaked face.

"Your Highness," she said, her voice muffled by her helm. "What happened? How did you escape?"

"Thank you for rescuing me, Sir Knight," Fíli said weakly. He propped himself up against the side of the hill, breathing in and out with a conscious effort to keep his nerves under control.

Tauriel blinked. He thought she was a knight from the palace! With her armor on, she supposed it was a reasonable mistake to make; she didn't look like the dainty foreign princess he was used to.

"Prince Fíli, I'm no knight," she said, amused. She took off her helmet, careful to not to catch it in her hair, and sat beside him. "It's me—Princess Tauriel."

Fíli gaped at her in astonishment. "T-Tauriel?" he stammered. "What are you doing out here? And...why are you dressed like that?"

"Answer me first," she said. "Then I'll tell you." She needed to know what had happened, but judging by the haunted look in Fíli's eyes, she could guess the worst.

"It's a long story," he warned. "Really, it began a very long time ago, when my sister was born."

"I know about the curse," Tauriel said. "Tell me what happened  _today_."

Fíli took a deep breath and began.

* * *

Fíli had been riding before it all happened, out alone on the plain. He was sick of the palace and the constant effort it took to appear charming and amicable. Charisma was a gift of his—literally, the fairies had given it to him as an infant—but it still took work.

Another gift from the fairies had been "good fortune", but he didn't feel like that was working out for him anymore, either. With every passing day, it looked like he would be forced into an unwanted marriage. Princess Tauriel...well, she was nice, but she didn't seem very interested in him, and he wasn't interested in her, either. The idea of marriage had never really appealed to him, and growing up he'd felt glad that it was his long-lost sister who'd been put into that situation.

Only, now that it came down to it, the tables had turned. Fíli would do his duty to his family and the kingdom, but he didn't think he'd like it. And there was no talking to Uncle Thorin about it—though he might feel a little bad about it, he was a king, and he was determined to honor his commitments in one way or another.

If only he could simply spend his life on the plain, with his beloved horse, Storm...! But that was only a dream, and Fíli lived in reality. So he would simply do his best, and spend some time alone when he could.

After moping for a few hours, he decided it was time to come back home. Tonight was a momentous occasion: it was his sister Kíli's sixteenth birthday. Today, supposedly, she would prick her finger upon a spinning wheel's needle and fall into an eternal sleep. This was why she had been hidden away by the fairies, to protect her and prevent the curse from coming to pass. If all went well, she would come home the next morning and Fíli would meet his sister for the first time.

He couldn't imagine what Kíli would be like. Would she love horses, like him? His mother and father said that she had dark hair, but what if the color had changed to be like his own blond hair? Would she be shy, after having been raised in seclusion in some far corner of the world, or would she be wild after growing up without a family?

Fíli hoped he would like her—and that she would even come. No one was certain if she would truly arrive; perhaps she'd already been cursed, and the fairies had simply not told them yet. Or maybe her existence was simply a tale made up by his family, and Kíli did not exist. Though he had been two years old when she (supposedly) had been born, he did not remember her at all.

Secretly, he hoped she would come home only so she could marry Prince Legolas as had been arranged, sparing him from marriage with Tauriel. But that was unfair, and it was likely that she would not want that fate as much as he didn't.

Fíli had been so lost in thought as he rode through the courtyard that he almost killed a young girl who claimed to be from the forest. Briar Rose, she said her name was, and he was so flustered and guilty that he decided to take her around the palace in order to apologize.

He quickly befriended her, finding her to be a fun and fascinating person, especially for a peasant. He liked her so much that he even invited her to come to dinner and get back at his parents for their arranged marriage. Teasing them with the prospect of flirting with a girl he was not betrothed to would be the perfect revenge, especially since Briar Rose was in on the trick.

Briar Rose didn't wish to stay for the celebrations that evening in honor of the princess's birthday, which was too bad. Fíli really liked her, and her parting words stuck with him:  _I think I'll see you again, sometime. I hope you find your sister._

But that had not been the end of the day's surprises. He had gone with his family to the celebration in the great hall, only to find his uncle worried and the visiting King Thranduil furious. Thranduil paced back and forth, his eyes flashing, while his wife, Queen Calien, tried to comfort him.

"What's his problem?" Fíli asked his father.

"His daughter's not back," Víli explained. "She went riding earlier, with her brother and Lord Gloin's son, Gimli, but they returned without her. They said she went riding by herself and never came back."

"I hope she's okay," Fíli said with a frown.

"You  _do_  care about her!" Víli exclaimed triumphantly. "I thought since you brought that girl to dinner—"

"I just brought her to annoy you," Fíli confessed. "She was quite nice, though, she'd be a good friend if she stuck around. But anyway, just because I don't want Tauriel to be dead or lost somewhere doesn't mean I'm in love with her!"

"Thranduil thinks that she's just run off to be impudent," Víli said. "I don't know. I should think you would be more involved in the life of your future wife, though, son."

"If Kíli comes back..." Fíli began.

"Fíli, you can't—"

As they bickered, Fíli saw something strange. Amidst the banners and the songs and Thorin's droning speech, he saw three bright lights streaking through the night sky. He gasped and pointed into the sky along with the other people in the great hall.

"By the heavens...!" Víli exclaimed, looking up in the sky. "It's the fairies!"

Fíli had seen many supernatural creatures in his time, but he had never met the fairy guardians of the royal line. They were strange creatures with tiny bodies and faces, glowing eyes, and vibrant clothes. One wore red, another blue, and the last green. They were noticeably distressed, and flocked around the king.

"Your Majesty!" proclaimed the one in blue.

"Dori!" he said, rising to his foot and wooden leg. "What is happening? Why are you here? Your duty is to guard the princess! Have you brought her early?"

"She brought herself!" cried the one in red. "Princess Kíli ran away this morning, after discovering her heritage before we had planned. She may already be here!"

"Where did you hide her, that she could get here so fast?" Dís asked, clutching Thorin's arm.

"The forest," answered the one in green, who must have been Ori.

"The forest? For sixteen years?" exclaimed Bilbo. "How was she not discovered? We thought you had taken her far away!"

"No one would suspect her to be so close to home," Dori pointed out. She sniffed. "And we did a very good job of keeping her safe and secluded...up until a few months ago, at least."

"What happened then?" asked Víli in a trembling voice.

"That doesn't matter," snapped the fairy in red, who could only be Nori. "What matters is that she's here, and you  _must_  find her before it's too late!"

Fíli stared at the fairies and realization dawned on him. A girl from the forest...he could barely believe it.

"A forest girl?" he asked timidly. "Who came to the palace this afternoon?"

"Yes!" Ori said. "Your Highness—did you see her?"

Fíli looked at his father in dismay. "I...yes, I did. She said her name was Briar Rose, she..."

"That is what we called her," Dori whispered. "Briar Rose was her name for sixteen years."

"She left," Fíli said, feeling dizzy. Briar Rose was Kíli. All along, the forest girl had been his sister. And worse, she had known—he knew she had known, and not just because the fairies said so.  _I think I'll see you again, sometime. I hope you find your sister,_  she had said. She knew he'd find his sister, because she  _was_  his sister. He already had found Kíli, and he didn't even know it.

"She didn't leave, we would have seen her!" Nori said.

"She's still here..." Fíli whispered.

He turned and fled the great hall. He had to find her. She was still here, lost in the palace, no doubt. He raced through the halls and opened doors, checking every closet. He heard voices in the distance, calling his name, or perhaps it was Kíli's.

He found himself in the cellar. A door was cracked open that he had never seen before; from it spilled a sickly yellow light. Immediately, Fíli knew Kíli was inside.

He burst through the door and beheld a terrifying sight: Briar Rose, her hand outstretched over a glowing spindle. Before her stood a tall, black-cloaked woman with teeth sharper and whiter than a wolf's.

"No!" he cried in desperation.

Kíli jerked away from the needle. She glanced back at him, her eyes glassy and dazed. She looked so lost and scared, just like she had when he'd almost run her over with his horse.

"Briar, don't," he pleaded. "You're the princess! You're my sister! Wait—!"

"Kíli, darling," hissed the evil woman, who could only be Smaug the Enchantress, the bane of his family. "You deserve better than him. If you touch the needle, your Tauriel will return to you."

Fíli didn't have time to process the mention of Tauriel's name. Likely it was a different person; he had other troubles to focus on. Kíli turned back to the spindle. Smaug grabbed her hand and dragged it down toward the needle.

"No!" he sobbed.

Kíli's finger pricked the spindle, and Fíli's heart broke. He had lost her.

"Kíli," he cried as she fell to the ground. Smaug cackled, swooping down to touch Kíli's forehead.

"Don't you touch her," Fíli spat, scrambling at his belt for one of the knives he always kept there. The third gift he'd been given as a babe, after charisma and good fortune, was a strong sword arm, and that extended to knives too.

Smaug looked up at him in disdain. "Oh, please, little prince." She snapped her fingers and the knife in his hand melted into smoking hot goo.

Fíli yelped and dropped it, the goo sliding off his hand. He hissed as he touched the red burn on his palm with his other hand.

Smaug loomed over him, grinning with those disturbingly white teeth. She was scarier than any of the stories had described her or the images he'd seen of her in his nightmares. Her black cloak swirled around her, and the spindle behind her glowed, casting an unearthly light upon her. And those teeth...but it was her eyes that disturbed him most, empty black holes, just whites and pupils. There was no color in them.

"I've got one, now I might as well take two." Smaug smirked, reaching for him with a long-fingered hand.

There was something about her eyes that were mesmerizing...they seemed to pull him in. They were so odd...surely no one had eyes like that, even an Enchantress. Maybe if he got a little closer, he would see some color in them...

He felt her fingernails brush his wrist, and he realized she was laying a spell upon him. Fast as a striking snake, he drew his second knife and stabbed it into her outstretched hand.

Smaug screamed in pain, giving Fíli enough time to turn tail and run out of the cellar.

In no time at all, he burst back into the great hall. He was immediately surrounded by concerned fairies and family members. His mother embraced him tightly, sobbing, while Uncle Bilbo clutched his hand and told him off for running off like that.

Fíli squirmed out of their grasp, and managed to gasp out the news: "Smaug took Kíli!"

The room fell silent. Bilbo covered his mouth with a hand, while tears budded in Thorin's yes. Víli nearly fainted into Dís's arms, and they ended up supporting each other.

The fairies fell out of the air. They plopped on the ground, openly weeping.

"We did all we could, you must understand," said Ori, the most put together of the three. She wiped her eyes with a conjured green cloth. "But curses have a way of coming true."

"Is there no hope?" Fíli asked, his voice trembling. "She tried to curse me, too, but I stabbed her and ran."

"Hope is useless in a time like this," Nori growled. "What can true love do against such evil, should it even exist?"

"Where is poor Kíli's body?" Thorin asked.

"And where is my daughter?" asked Queen Calien. She clutched her husband's hand. "Where is Tauriel?"

"Smaug mentioned her," Fíli said, remembering. "I don't recall what she said, exactly, but..."

Prince Legolas's face went white as snow. "Tauriel...no!" Beside him, Gimli squeezed his hand in comfort.

Two losses in one night, and Smaug had almost gotten him too...Fíli's heart was heavier than it had ever been.

Grief hung in the air. There were no more celebrations to be had; servants cleaned up the hall and cleared the palace of unneeded guests.

Soldiers ventured into the cellar and found Kíli's body unattended. She was carried into a special room in a high tower of the palace. It was to have been hers, before she was taken away.

All these years, and his sister had only been a half day's ride away in the forest—a forest Fíli himself had ridden through many a time. It was so ironic. All those years lost, and now Kíli was gone for good.

Kíli was dressed as a princess by her mother for the first time, then laid to rest in silken bedsheets. Priest Balin said some empty words over her body. She was as good as dead, and they mourned her as if she was.

The fairies kissed her brow; then her family did. Fíli couldn't bring himself to do it, not after failing to save her.

The ceremony was almost over when it was interrupted.

It had been too good to be true to think that Smaug was gone for good. Fíli was not surprised when she appeared in a cloud of dark smoke at the foot of Kíli's bed.

Some of the court ladies screamed; this time, Víli really did faint, though he was shaken back to wakefulness in a few moments.

"All the family back together again," Smaug said mockingly. "How sweet. If only you could all be awake together, or better yet...asleep together."

"Not this time, Smaug," Dori said, her voice hard as iron. She and her sisters raised their wands, but Smaug snapped her fingers and they melted away just like Fíli's knife had.

"I perfected that little trick in my years of exile in the North," Smaug said conversationally. "There is no use fighting me. I've already won!"

Thorin stepped forward. "You took my leg, you took my brother, you took my niece...But you will never take the kingdom! You will never rule Erebor!"

"But I already do," Smaug said, a grin spreading across her face.

What was the point in fighting her? Fíli was hopeless. There was nothing he could do.

She raised her arms and cried out, "I curse you all, every inhabitant of the palace of Erebor, to a sleep matching Princess Kíli's; until she wakes, so shall you all sleep!"

"No!" cried Dori. She conjured herself a new wand and quickly uttered a countercurse: "Until the time the moon rises we shall still walk!"

Smaug shrugged. "As you wish," she agreed, "but that gives you only five minutes, you foolish fae!"

"Leave us!" commanded Thorin. Smaug cackled loudly and disappeared in another cloud of smoke.

Fíli already felt himself falling asleep. The fairies hurriedly ushered everyone out of the room and into their beds. Ori rubbed her eyes and guided Fíli not to his room but the palace entrance.

"I'm tired..." he murmured. "Lemme sleep..."

"No, Fíli, you cannot sleep!" Ori urged him in an undertone. "You must escape! There  _is_  hope! Smaug did not take Tauriel, she's in the forest, and you  _must_  bring her back! She may be the only one who can break the spell!"

"Tauriel...?" Fíli didn't understand. Tauriel...Thranduil's daughter? The one he was supposed to marry? Why her?

Ori pushed him outside of the palace walls and said something else, waving her new wand over his head. Almost immediately, his mind cleared like he'd been doused in ice water. Fíli gasped and looked at her in wild surprise.

"Go!" she begged.

Fíli looked behind her in horror. Smaug loomed over her, grinning evilly. She reached out a hand that was almost as large as Ori's entire body.

"Ori—!" he cried.

Ori pushed him again, and he turned and ran just as Smaug grabbed Ori by the waist and pulled her back into the depths of the palace.

"Run all you want, little prince, but I will catch you eventually!" Smaug cried.

Fíli didn't listen, he just ran, and ran, and ran.

* * *

After spilling the whole story to Tauriel, Fíli felt like a weight had been lifted off his chest. At home, he'd had few people who would listen to his thoughts, and he didn't trust anyone enough to tell them everything. But in such a life-or-death situation like this, everything just came falling out of his mouth.

Tauriel took a deep breath. "Wow."

Fíli snorted. "That's an understatement." He still didn't know how she had gotten here and what she had to do with this whole tale, but he was about to find out. "Okay. Now you tell me  _your_  story."

Tauriel didn't meet his eyes. "Well...Briar and I—I mean, Kíli and I—we've been, ah, lovers for months now."

Fíli stared at her. "Say that again?"

"I met her in the woods," Tauriel explained, "and I kept coming back. I didn't want to marry you, especially not when I had her! Of course, neither of us knew she was the lost princess..."

"Lovers?" he asked, his mind blown. That explained why Smaug had used Tauriel's name to lure Kíli into her trap. "You and...my sister?"

"Yes," Tauriel confirmed. "But you want the whole story, don't you?"

"Just tell me, how did you get out here?" Fíli asked. "Why didn't you come back home? Your family was worried sick—though I suppose it's a good thing in the long run."

"The fairies, Briar's aunts, they discovered us today," Tauriel said. "Briar found out that she was the princess and ran away. The fairies and I...we had to figure out what to do, and I got lost for a while. That's why I didn't come home. Eventually I sent the fairies to warn you all about Kíli being in danger, and well...I guess that didn't work."

"It helped," Fíli said. "It made me realize that Briar and Kíli were the same person." He sighed. "Ori saved me. She sent me to find you, and now I have...but what can we do? The only way to break the curse is..."

"True love," Tauriel finished for him, and she smiled half-heartedly. "I do love her, Fíli."

"I'm not one who puts much stock in 'True Love'," Fíli admitted. Frankly, he didn't understand romance or its allure, but that didn't matter much in a time like this. "But you  _have_  to get back into the palace and kiss Kíli to break the spell. It's the only way." He buried his face in his hands. "She's my sister! My sister is home! This can't be how it ends!"

"It won't be," Tauriel said firmly. "Will you help me, Fíli?"

"Of course," Fíli said, pulling himself back together. Then he snorted as a strange thought occurred to him. "As long as you promise to marry my sister, and not me!"

"We can only hope," Tauriel agreed. Then she frowned thoughtfully. "You know, if this all works out...that would solve everything! I wouldn't have to marry you, and Legolas wouldn't have to marry Kíli—she and I could be together, and the treaty would still be valid."

"Let's get to work, then," Fíli said, getting to his feet.

* * *

"First we need a plan," said Fíli.

Tauriel wasn't quite sure what to think of Fíli after having heard his whole story. When he'd described how he'd almost killed Briar accidentally, she thought her heart would stop. She was sure that it had, at least for a moment, when he'd told her about how Kíli had been caught in Smaug's spell and fallen asleep.

The more she heard Fíli talk, the more she thought it was a shame he and Legolas had never really talked much. He seemed like the kind of person her brother would like—if he ever came out of the magic-induced coma placed upon every person inside the palace.

"There's no way Smaug will let us in the palace," Tauriel said. "Maybe we could sneak in?"

Fíli shook his head. "She'll be watching everywhere," he said darkly. "There's no way we'll escape her." He paused thoughtfully. "Maybe if I could lure her outside while  _you_  snuck in..."

"She'd kill you," Tauriel objected. "No way. And if you're going to fight her, there's no way I'd let you do it alone."

"Then we  _both_  lure her out, then kill her, and the palace is ours," Fíli suggested.

"We'll have to cut through the thorns," Tauriel said thoughtfully.

"Thorns?" he asked.

"Yes, the thorns," she said. "They've grown up all over the walls and the door."

"She must have done that after I escaped." Fíli frowned. "We definitely won't be able to sneak in, then."

"Does Smaug have any weaknesses?" Tauriel asked. "Things we can exploit?"

"I don't know," he admitted.

"Well, how did your mother and your uncles defeat her, all those years ago?" she said.

"My mother had magic when fighting Smaug," Fíli said. "She used it to neutralize Smaug's own magic, and then Thorin and Frerin had a chance to kill her. Even then, Thorin lost his leg and Frerin died."

"Do you have any magic?" Tauriel asked, but she already knew the answer.

Fíli laughed. "No. It was her gift from the guardian of the royal line—Smaug herself, at that time, actually. Now the guardians are the fairies, which is why they were the ones who protected Kíli all these years. And their gifts aren't nearly as helpful. What can 'charisma' do against an enchantress?"

"What about your other gifts?" Surely there was some advantage they had. Greenwood's royal line didn't have magical guardians like they did in Erebor, all they had was talent and training.

"Dori was the one who gave me charisma," Fíli said. "Nori gave me the gift of 'a strong sword arm'. That  _might_  be helpful, if I can get close enough, and if I had a sword. And Ori's gift was 'good fortune'...which doesn't seem to be working out for me."

Tauriel laughed. "Well, I can solve your sword issue. Take mine." She unbuckled her sheathed sword from her belt and handed it over to him. "I prefer a bow and arrow, anyway."

"Thanks." Fíli took the sword and unsheathed it. He hefted it with an arm that was hopefully stronger than it looked, and swung it experimentally a few times. "This will do."

"Well, does Smaug have any weaknesses besides the ones that Dís took care of with magic?" Tauriel asked. "If not, we're basically done for."

"Well..." Fíli contemplated it again. "She's incredibly vain. She thinks she's the best thing in the world. Uncle Thorin goaded her into turning into a dragon by telling her she wasn't strong enough to beat her as she was.  _Then_  my mother stripped her of her powers temporarily, at the cost of her own magic in a more permanent fashion. Frerin got burned to death, and she  _ate_  Thorin's leg."

Tauriel shivered in disgust. "But wouldn't turning her into a dragon make her  _more_  powerful?"

"Mother said that since she took the magic away while Smaug was a dragon, it took a long time for her to get enough magic back to turn human again and start tormenting us," Fíli said. "And she's still weaker in that form, though she'd never admit it. So it would make her more dangerous physically, but less dangerous magically."

"Are you suggesting we intentionally infuriate her until she turns into a  _dragon_?" Tauriel exclaimed. "Are you out of your mind?" But she was considering it.

"If there's no other way, it might be our only option," Fíli admitted. He looked enviously at her armor. "I wish I had some more protection than just my clothes, but there's nothing to do about that."

"I think one of us should distract her while the other sneaks behind her and kills her," she said.

"Let's go with that, then, and only use the dragon idea as a last resort," Fíli said. "And we'd better hurry. The longer she sits in that palace, the more time she has to come up with a nefarious plan of her own."

Tauriel mounted her horse, helping Fíli up behind her. "I can't believe we're doing this," Tauriel said as she nudged her horse into a run.

"Neither can I," he admitted. "And by the heavens...I like riding, but I much prefer it when I'm in control."

Tauriel grinned. "My horse, my rules."

They rode toward the palace. Tauriel's heart pounded, but she remembered Kíli and kept going. It would all be worth it if she could save her. And if she did, everyone would see that their love was true, and they could marry, solving everyone's problems. There was so much hope in the future, if only they could succeed.

At last, they reached the palace gate again.

"Let's do this," Fíli said. "You distract her, while I try to kill her. I'm the one with the strong sword arm again, and you have the long range weapon, so you can keep safe and far away from her while still irritating her."

"Okay," Tauriel said. He was much better at tactics than she was; probably he'd had experience with it, unlike her. "Good luck."

"For Kíli," he whispered. He slid off the horse and stood his ground. "Let's call her out."

Tauriel took a deep breath, then cried out into the wind: "Smaug! Evil Enchantress! Come forth!"

"This is not your kingdom, it is mine!" Fíli proclaimed. "I will protect it and my sister!"

"I will avenge my love!" Tauriel added. "Come forth so we might slay you!"

With a rumble, a glow spread from the ramparts. Lightning clawed its way across the sky, and the rain clouds burst with a clap of thunder. Rain poured down from the heavens.

Smaug appeared atop the ramparts, an evil figure cloaked in black. She was terrifying, scarier than Tauriel could ever imagine. Long black hair cascaded down from her head. She wore a golden crown upon her head.

Beside Tauriel, Fíli growled angrily. "She stole Thorin's crown! Who does she think she is?"

"We'll get it back for him," she promised. She drew her bow and fired a warning shot up into the sky. "Smaug!" she cried again. "I have come to slay you!"

Smaug smiled, revealing glinting white teeth. They were pointed, like a cat's, and looked eerily like they would reach out and bite Tauriel's head off like they'd bitten off King Thorin's leg.

"Well, well, well," Smaug purred. "Look what we have here."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One chapter left! Thanks for reading and commenting!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoy the last chapter!  
> Shipsicle made some even more amazing art! Thank you so much!!  
> [ART](https://shipsicle.tumblr.com/post/162450645125/aaand-another-one-d-again-for-arofilis)

"I must say, I didn't expect you two to come back here," Smaug said sardonically. "You're quite persistent!"

"I will never give up," vowed Tauriel. She fired another warning shot over Smaug's head, and the Enchantress laughed.

"We'll see about that," she said. Lightning crashed overhead, and suddenly she was no longer in the same spot.

Tauriel's heart hammered in her chest as Smaug descended from the ramparts, her cloak billowing amongst a black cloud. Fíli disappeared; Tauriel wasn't sure where he had gone but hoped that he had vanished as part of the plan to scatter and not because Smaug had vaporized him.

"Little princess, you have no hope," Smaug gloated. "I have Kíli already, and you cannot save her!"

"True love can fix anything," Tauriel proclaimed. She nocked an arrow to her bow and aimed at Smaug's forehead. The arrow was whipped away by a supernatural wind. She fired another in quick succession, and noted with calculating interest that it got a few feet closer to her target before the spell blew it away.

"True love is dead." Smaug's hands suddenly blazed with an otherworldly yellow fire. "And soon, you will be too!"

A ball of fire careened toward her. Tauriel nudged her horse into a run and evaded it, crying out, "Is that all you've got?"

She had meant it as a taunt, to enrage Smaug into error, but she had miscalculated. Smaug only laughed, and four fireballs whizzed Tauriel's way. She barely dodged them, and her horse's mane caught fire. Neighing in protest, the horse bucked her off and raced away.

Tauriel hit the ground hard. She rolled over, moaning, hating the armor she wore. She would surely have bruises after this, but nothing seemed to be broken. She didn't have time to think about her pain as she scrambled to her feet, praying to the heavens that her bow wasn't broken.

It wasn't. Even if her steed had gotten away, she had been lucky this time. Smaug shot another ball of fire toward her, but she rolled out of the way, and scrambled back to her feet. In only a moment, she had her bow out again and began to fire at the irate Enchantress.

"I'm more resilient than you expected, hm?" she said mockingly. "You didn't think a little human would last this long!"

"Don't get your hopes up," Smaug snarled, but she seemed a little less sure of herself.

Fire ball after fire ball rained down upon her, but Tauriel avoided all of them, tossing loaded comments and the occasional arrow back at Smaug.

"You'll never catch me!" she cried, and she was so hyped up on the rush of her success thus far that she laughed gleefully.

Furious, Smaug screamed and sent another barrage of fire her way. The short plume on Tauriel's helmet caught flame, and she spent a few seconds struggling to tear it off.

"You will burn, princess!" Smaug snarled. There was flash of lightning, and Tauriel could feel the thunderclap in her bones. Rain poured all around her, but it did not put out Smaug's magic fires.

Tauriel shot four arrows at the Enchantress in quick succession. Two were blown away; one burst into a thousand wooden fragments. But the last one hit its mark, stabbing Smaug in the arm.

Smaug shrieked in rage. The arrow melted into a sickly goo, leaving her arm untouched, but she was livid now.

"Weak!" Tauriel taunted. "Even a mortal's arrow can pierce you!"

Smaug swooped toward her, her cloud skimming the ground. Tauriel turned tail and ran, not bothering to shoot any arrows behind her. Her legs burned with exertion, and she panted, regretting the weight of her armor. It had kept her safe from any flame that touched her, though, and for that she was grateful.

Just when Tauriel could feel the heat of Smaug's fires on her neck, another piercing scream rang through the air. She stumbled and fell, but it did not matter: Smaug writhed in pain, her fires burnt out. Behind her stood Fíli, his blade embedded into her back.

Tauriel cheered wildly. "Fíli!" she hollered. He had come back, come to her aid! Smaug was finished, defeated!

"That's for my sister," Fíli growled.

Smaug crumbled on the ground. Tauriel pushed herself back to her feet unsteadily, grinning. They had won! And it had taken so little time! There was hope after all!

Smaug stirred. She rose to her feet, anger blazing in her eyes. She reached behind her and drew the sword from her back. She raised the blade, dripping with black blood, and laughed hollowly.

"You foolish mortals," she spat. "Steel alone cannot defeat an Enchantress!"

She cast the sword aside and turned on Fíli. Lifting him up with unnatural strength, she flung him high into the air. Fíli let loose a terrified yell and was whisked away by Smaug's magical winds, his yells becoming more and more distant until Tauriel could not see him any longer.

Tauriel stared at Smaug in horror. Fíli was gone. There was no mistake: he would fall to the ground eventually, and he would die. She was alone, and defeated.

In vain, she fired a few more arrows at the Enchantress, but her heart was not in it. What chance did she have against an enemy so mighty?

Smaug laughed. "You are done for," she declared. "I have no time for your antics any further!"

Yellow fire burned in her hands, amassing into a ball far larger than the ones before it. It was almost as large as Tauriel.

When it came hurtling toward her, Tauriel didn't bother trying to run. She simply braced herself for impact and let the fire consume her. For a moment, her world blazed a sickly yellow, and then she knew nothing more.

* * *

Smaug approached the princess's crumpled body cautiously. She was more hurt than she had let on to her opponents; the wound in her back festered and would not heal for weeks. It was true that no mere sword could kill her, but iron was bad for her soul and for her magic. It hurt.

She nudged the princess's leg. Yellow magefire licked along her armor, cooking the body within it. The vicious, nasty little girl did not stir. Smaug's lip curled upward. Good. Just what she deserved.

Still, the princess had been determined. Smaug was surprised she'd even gotten this far. For a moment even she had paused to wonder if a mortal could, in fact, defeat her without magic. But alas—for the foreign princess and for sad little Fíli—Smaug was simply too powerful.

Satisfied, Smaug limped back to the castle, carried by her cloud. She needed to work a spell of healing upon the wound in her back, but any threat to her power was gone.

All in all, a good day's work.

* * *

When Tauriel woke up, she could barely believe she wasn't dead.

Sun shone gently in her eyes. She squinted, startled to realize she could still squint. Slowly, she pushed herself upward into a sitting position.

Immediately, her head began to throb viciously. The armor she wore, which had been cumbersome at best, now hung on her like the weight of the whole sky. Every bone and muscle in her body ached...but the fact that she could feel that was a miracle. How had she not died?

The armor was useless now. Before dwelling on her miraculous survival, the first thing she needed to do was take it off. Painstakingly, she climbed out of it, peeling bits of it off her skin and clothes. It hurt less than she thought it would, especially since the fire should have melted the metal into her skin.

In fact, once she was dressed only in her normal clothes—charred and ragged as they were—she felt much better. The ache had lessened, and her throbbing head felt almost back to normal. Had the summer morning healed her?

In her pocket, the runestone thumped against her thigh. Awed, Tauriel took it out of her pocket and held it reverently in her hands.

The  _stone_. It was enchanted. It was enchanted to protect its holder.  _That_  was how she had survived. It must have negated the effects of Smaug's own magic, allowing her to remain living and even healing her wounds.

She didn't know how much time had passed since her near-fatal battle with the Enchantress. It could have been simply one night, or it could have been days or weeks. She didn't know what to do or where to go, or where Smaug had gone and what she planned to do next.

"I can't just stand here all day," she murmured to herself. "Come on, Tauriel, let's get moving."

She turned away from the palace, her heart heavy as she remembered why and how she had gotten there. As she limped back to the hill where she and Fíli had plotted, she thought sorrowfully of her companion's sacrifice. He was dead, obviously. She didn't know where his body had landed and broken, but no one could survive being thrown with that much force.

She had not known Fíli that well, but she knew he did not deserve such a horrible fate. He had been trying to protect his kingdom, his family, his long-lost sister. She could respect and understand that. And he had fought even through his terror. If only his "final blow" had actually finished the job...

And Kíli. Kíli was lost, forever doomed to an eternal sleep. Tauriel would never see her again, let alone kiss her or spend the rest of her life with her.

She kicked a rock in her path bitterly. She briefly considered throwing the enchanted runestone to the wind, but she kept it. It was all she had left of Kíli now.

But she had not only lost Kíli, Tauriel had also lost her entire family. Her mother, her father, her brother—all were caught in the same evil spell. What cruel magic was this? Tauriel blinked back furious tears. All this...for nothing. She was totally, utterly alone.

She arrived at the hill and threw herself into the grass behind it, weeping. All was lost. She was completely defeated. Smaug had won, and there was nothing she could do about it. In frustration, she threw the runestone into the grass. What good was it to her? She wished it would have let her die, instead of forcing her to live a lonely, unhappy life.

Where would she go now? Part of her wanted to live in the forest for the rest of her life, never speaking to anyone again. Or she could cut her hair and disguise herself as a peasant, moving to the nearby village. She could scarcely imagine returning home to Greenwood, ruling there as Queen, but to leave her people leaderless would surely be irresponsible as a royal.

Of one thing she was certain: she would never love again.

She sat in misery for more than an hour, her tears drying slowly on her face. When at last she was calm again, she got to her feet. She could not stay here.

In the distance was the forest. Tauriel's heart ached as she remembered the wonders she had discovered there, and all Kíli had shown her and done for her. No. She would not go there. It was no place for her any longer.

On the ground she saw the runestone she had so angrily discarded. With a pang of regret, she picked it back up. Her fingers brushed the engraved message from Dís to her long lost daughter:  _Return to me._

Had Kíli known what it meant when she had given it to her? What Nori had said to her in the forest seemed ages away, a distant memory. Regardless, the message was clear, and its spell had been cast upon her.

Tauriel clenched her fist round the stone, a new fire springing up within her heart.  _Return to me_. That was what Kíli was saying to her, consciously or unconsciously—and who was Tauriel to deny her?

There  _was_  still hope. There was  _always_  hope, if only she would look for it.

Tauriel turned away from the forest and walked resolutely toward the palace again: weaponless, injured, outmatched, but full of hope.

* * *

Fíli opened his eyes in a forest. He vaguely remembered being cast into the air and carried for what felt like forever by a powerful, buffeting wind. He had eventually crashed into leaves, which was not nearly as soft as a landing as he would have thought. He must have passed out shortly after that.

He groaned and pushed himself into a sitting position. He winced as he pulled broken branches out from under him and brushed leaves off his face.

There was an ugly bruise on his thigh, but he felt mostly alive. Frankly, he was surprised he wasn't horribly injured or even dead after a flight like that, but he was grateful for his good fortune. Maybe his fairy gift was finally paying off.

It did not take him long to realize he was being watched.

There were eyes everywhere. He couldn't see most of them, but he could feel them. In the pale dawn light, the world was fuzzy, and a thin layer of fog clouded the air. Fíli shivered, suddenly realizing he was cold.

"H-hello?" he stammered. "Is someone out there?" He knew the forest had a strange reputation, probably because it had been the home of the fairies for sixteen years.

Out of the undergrowth stepped a fox. It looked at him with intelligent eyes, then whisked its tail. More animals followed it: squirrels, mice, birds, even a small raccoon. Fíli's heart hammered wildly. No animals had ever behaved this way around him before. They seemed to be waiting for him to say something.

"Hi," he said, trying to stop his voice from shaking. "Do you...know my sister? Briar Rose?"

A bluebird landed on his shoulder and chirped. Fíli didn't know what it meant by that, but suddenly the animals had gone, all except the bird.

"What..." But he couldn't even form a coherent question. Did the animals know Briar? Did they understand him? What was going on? Was this all a product of magic?

Within minutes, the animals had returned. A squirrel dropped some nuts in his hand; the fox placed a branch full of blackberries in his lap. Fíli ate ravenously and gratefully. He hadn't realized he was hungry until presented with food, and he wolfed it down.

"This is so weird," he said when he was done. The animals sat and watched him eat patiently. The bluebird flew off his shoulder and landed on top of the fox's head. It chirped authoritatively, and Fíli had the impression that he was being bossed around.

"Sorry," he said. He got to his feet, brushing dirt and plants off his clothes. "Thanks for the food, little animals."

He needed to get out of here. He had to go back to the palace. If Tauriel was still alive, she would need help, and if she wasn't...well, he'd figure out what to do later, if it came to that. Now that the panic and loss of the previous night had worn off, all he felt was a steely resolve. He would do whatever he needed to do to reclaim Erebor and free his family, even if it cost him his life.

As soon as he had decided to leave the forest, he realized he had no idea where he was. The forest, that was certain; it was impressive that the magic wind had blown him a half day's ride away, but it was where he was. But where in the forest? The middle? The edge? Was he close to the village? If he walked in a straight line, would he get even more lost or would he find himself in the plain again soon?

Despair welled up in his soul, and he forced back tears. He took a deep breath, trying to figure out what to do next.

Then the bird landed on his shoulder again, chirping loudly.

Fíli laughed. "Of course," he said. "Can you lead me out of the forest? I must return to the palace. Kíli—I mean, Briar's in trouble. Will you help me?"

The bird took flight, and the whole forest exploded with noise. Animals streamed out of places he hadn't even realized they'd been hiding in, and a whole flock joined the little bluebird in the sky. They all headed east, into the rising sun. So that was the way home.

The animals led him to the edge of the forest. He had not landed very far in, fortunately, but the sun had fully risen by the time he arrived at the edge of the plain.

He sighed. "How in the heavens am I going to get all the way to the palace?" he wondered aloud. It was so far away. A half day's ride wasn't much, but it would take twice that or more to walk the distance, weary as he was.

The bird landed on his head and tapped it with a sharp beak. Fíli winced, but he didn't brush it off. Then it cheeped sternly and took off. The rest of the animals stayed by him.

"I wish you'd just start talking," he grumbled. "It would make everything much easier."

He guessed that the bird wished for him to remain in the same place, and he stayed put. His mind turned to his enemy, Smaug. He had thought for sure that she would have been killed by his sword when he stabbed her—what person could survive such a blow? But Smaug was no normal person, she was an Enchantress.

Well, it wouldn't happen again. Tauriel had thought tricking Smaug into changing forms was a bad idea, but Fíli still thought it was worth a shot. That would be his plan, if he managed to make it back to the palace.

There was the unmistakeable sound of horse hooves behind him. Fíli turned around to see a wild horse approaching him, the little bluebird riding it like a newly crowned monarch.

He smiled. "Thank you, little bird," he said. Nervously, he touched the horse's mane. It flinched and danced away from him. His heart pounded. Everything he'd ever learned told him that he should never, ever try and mount a wild horse. But this was the only way, and all the forest animals were different than normal.

"Will you let me ride you to the palace?" he asked. "Just that far. You don't have to stay to fight."

Slowly, the horse approached him. Praying to the heavens that he wouldn't get bucked off, he mounted it.

After a few moments, he relaxed slowly. He was still on board. He patted the horse's neck gently. "Go," he whispered.

The horse took off. The forest birds leapt into the air, soaring above him, while the other animals ran alongside him. Some of them jumped up onto the horse, riding beside him.

Fíli held on for dear life as the horse thundered toward the palace, wondering how he had gotten to this point in his life, and if he would get much further.

* * *

Tauriel found her sword lying in the grass. Smaug hadn't bothered to destroy it, though its blade had been permanently blackened by her blood and fire.

The last hand to hold the blade had been Fíli's, but now he was dead. Tauriel shivered as she hefted it, promising herself that she would avenge him.

She had climbed back into her armor, but her helm was nowhere to be seen. Her red hair hung loose from a ponytail, streaming freely behind her. She was certain she didn't look pretty, but in this moment, that didn't matter. With a certain bitterness, she decided that if she survived today, it would never matter to her again.

"Smaug!" she cried again. "Come forth!"

There was a rumbling in the palace. "What?" screeched the Enchantress as she rose to the ramparts. "You  _survived_?"

"Yes, I am alive," Tauriel said boldly. Her heart hardened as she thought of all Smaug had done to her, and she spat out, "You evil creature! You're not only wicked, but weak! You can't even kill a mortal like me!"

"I am strong!" Smaug cried, leaping from the ramparts. A black aura emanated from her, a visible representation of her fury. "I brought down this whole kingdom!"

"No, you only brought down the palace," Tauriel pointed out. "The rest of Erebor still flourishes—I doubt they even have realized what you've done! Maybe it's your  _form_ ," she said craftily. She could scarcely believe she was playing this tactic. It was reckless and dangerous, but she was beyond caution now. If Smaug turned into a dragon...so be it. She was supposed to be easier to defeat in that form, anyway.

"My form?" Smaug growled. "No! I am more powerful than you will ever be!"

"I heard rumors that you cannot even turn into a dragon anymore!" Tauriel mocked. "What kind of Enchantress are you, if you cannot shapeshift?"

"I'll show you what kind of Enchantress I am!" Smaug hissed. She raised her arms and a trail of black magic swirled around her, until she was cocooned in black smoke. The cloud of smoke grew to a monstrous size, and then suddenly a great black dragon burst from it, wings spread wide.

Tauriel immediately realized that this plan had been a bad idea. Smaug was huge. Tauriel could see her great black claws and her huge white teeth, and her wings could easily sweep her away in one flap. In terror, she turned and fled.

Smaug swooped forward, chasing after her. Tauriel could feel her hot breath on her heals, and she regretted her course of decisions immensely. Supposedly Smaug was magically weaker in this form, but how could se get close enough to harm her without being eaten?

She heard Smaug open her mouth and snap it shut only inches away from her, and her heart nearly stopped. The great maw opened again, and Tauriel prepared for the worst, until—

Smaug roared suddenly in anger, and the danger was gone. Shocked, Tauriel whirled around to see the dragon screaming and batting at her eyes. Birds flew in her face, while other animals like foxes and raccoons jumped and clawed at her feet.

And Fíli—Fili! He rode upon a wild horse, hollering loudly. "Kill her! Kill her!" he cried. "Tauriel! You've got the sword! Kill her!"

Not pausing to wonder how this miracle had occurred, Tauriel rushed forward while Smaug was distracted. She ran toward the dragon, and in a last, desperate hope, she threw her sword high into the air, right at Smaug's chest.

There must have been some magic at work, for Tauriel's arm was not strong enough that day to throw the sword so true. And yet, as Smaug snapped at birds and stomped on foxes, the blade soared through the air and struck the dragon straight in the chest.

There was a brief pause as Smaug looked down and realized what had happened. Her draconic face twisted into a horrible frown, and she gave out one final, ugly screech. Her body writhed in pain, and the forest animals fled from her. Fíli and Tauriel turned and ran away as Smaug's body crumbled into ash, disintegrating before their very eyes.

At last there was nothing left but dust and a blackened sword. Tauriel approached it and lifted it reverently. This would be a sword they would sing songs of—and she would be its famed wielder. For a moment, she felt dizzy.

"Tauriel!" Fíli cried, running up to her. "You did it!"

"Fíli!" she said, stumbling toward him. "You're alive!"

She fell into his arms and they embraced tightly, sharing a brief but intense moment of joy and relief. Then she let go of him awkwardly, realizing how strange it was to hug him. But then again, was it really that odd, after what they had just gone through?

Fíli grinned at her. "You've got to tell me everything. How did you survive?"

"How did you get here?" she asked in amazement. "And with all these animals!" Then she gasped. "No, tell me later! Kíli!"

They ran toward the palace. Thorns choked the entrance, but Tauriel cut through them with her sword. They were weak now that Smaug was dead. Her magic was already fading, but there was one curse yet to break. Once they broke through the thorns, Fíli took the lead, racing up stairs to the tower where Kíli lay sleeping.

"It's this room," he said, stopping in front of a door. "Go on."

"What if I cannot wake her?" Tauriel asked in fear.

"You can," Fíli said. "You  _have_  to. True love will conquer, will it not?"

Hesitantly, Tauriel opened the door and stepped inside.

Kíli lay silently on the bed, her hands clasped across her chest. She wore a fine silk dress, the likes of which Tauriel had never seen her wearing before. Her hair was braided, her face powdered. She had been made pretty in death.

Tauriel stepped forward. Fíli lingered in the doorway, holding his breath.

"Kíli..." she whispered, leaning over her.

Before Tauriel pressed her lips to her love's, Kíli's eyes opened.

She gasped, jumping backward. "Kíli!"

"Tauriel!" Kíli cried joyfully, jumping into her arms. They embraced tightly. Tauriel hugged her fiercely, never wishing to let go. She had come  _so close_  to losing her forever, but now they were together again.

Kíli let go of her briefly, then kissed her lovingly. Tauriel melted in her arms, overcome with bliss.

At last, they broke apart. Kíli saw Fíli and leapt to her feet, embracing her brother for the first time.

They all sat on Kíli's bed together. Tauriel could barely keep herself from flinging herself back into Kíli's arms, but she settled with holding her hand.

"You woke up!" she said. "How? I didn't even kiss you!"

"I just...did," Kíli said. "What happened to Smaug? How did you two...?"

"It's a long story," Fíli said. He looked like he was on the verge of tears. "I can't believe you knew that you were the lost princess all along and you didn't  _tell_  me!"

"I had to see for myself," Kíli explained. "But it's alright now. We've got the rest of our lives to catch up on what we've missed."

There was a cry from the door. "Kíli!"

Dís ran forward, Víli right behind her. Kíli leapt to her feet and hugged her mother, sobbing openly. Soon, the rest of her family gathered around: Thorin, Víli, Bilbo, and the fairies.

Tauriel's family ran through the door as well. Tearfully, she hugged her parents and her brother, and even Gimli. They were all alive; they were all safe. She could have cried from happiness, and when Kíli called her back over shyly to introduce her as her lover, she did.

The whole story had to be told. When everyone heard it, they marvelled at it. Tauriel's parents were shocked that she had kept the secret of Kíli's existence for so long, but after all that had happened they couldn't summon any anger. The primary emotion for everyone was joy: the crisis was over, and they were all safe.

Over the course of the next few days, order was restored to Erebor. Thorin asked permission to place Tauriel's sword in the palace museum, which she granted easily. She never wanted to need to use it again. Thorin sent messengers across his kingdom to tell the story of Smaug's defeat and Kíli's return, and a kingdom-wide celebration was declared.

With Kíli and Tauriel happily in love, any previous marriage contracts were annulled. There was no need for Legolas to marry Kíli or for Fíli to marry Tauriel if the two princesses were happy together, and an alliance was cemented between Greenwood and Erebor forever. Though no wedding was being planned quite yet, it was clear they would be married eventually.

If there had been any doubts on the part of the close-minded as to whether Kíli and Tauriel were suited for each other, the official story to the world was that Tauriel had woken Kíli with a kiss. Only true love could do that, and that would be that. But the real mystery of why Kíli had woken without a kiss puzzled Tauriel, Fíli, and Kíli.

They took the matter to the only people they could trust with the truth, besides Legolas and Gimli: the fairies. Kíli had mended her relationship with them, accepting them for who they were and for who they had always been, her loving aunts who just happened to be fairies as well.

Dori and Nori were just as confused as they were, unfortunately. Neither of them could explain the strangeness of the event, especially since the rules of magic were very particular about what did and didn't count as "True Love".

"It's like I said, true love isn't real," Fíli declared. "We're just lucky, or else Smaug's death broke the curse."

"No," Ori said, shaking her head. "I don't think it's that."

"Well, then, what do you think?" asked Tauriel.

"I suppose we'll never know for certain," Ori admitted, "and Fíli  _may_  be correct, but I think I know my own magic better than that."

"What did you intend, when you cast your spell?" Kíli said.

"I thought it would be like everyone else did," Ori said. "True love's kiss, a young prince riding in to save the day. Or else your mother would wake you. The love of a parent is as true as any other, or truer. But what actually happened..." She hummed thoughtfully. "True love is boundless, my dears. It reaches beyond what we  _think_  and into our very hearts. I believe that it is through Fíli and Tauriel's combined efforts to break the spell and save you that it was broken. Just the action, the thought, was enough to wake you. They both love you truly."

"True love is seldom all it seems," Dori said wisely.

"And neither are visions," Kíli said. She shook her head. "All my life I've seen things before they happened, or felt them, in a fashion. Now I know it's because of my gift of perception. But I could never have predicted all of this!"

Even after that, Fíli was still of the opinion that true love wasn't nearly powerful enough to break a spell, even should it exist, but Tauriel thought that Ori was right.

A kiss was just a symbol; it meant only what a person put into it.  _True_  love was greater than that, and she had plenty of it for Kíli. So did Fíli, after a different fashion. Besides, magic was tricky, and even those who cast it could never be quite certain of its effects.

And when Kíli and Tauriel finally kissed on their wedding day, a few years later...well, there was magic in that, too.


End file.
